
fifass L-lJ Id 7 L 
Book 'JxS. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



-r 'i 



THE TEACHING 
OF ENGLISH 



THE TEACHING 
OF ENGLISH 

TEACHING THE ART AND 
THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE 



BY 



PAUL KLAPPER, Ph.D. 

ASSISTANT PEOFESSOR OF EDUCATION, COLLEGE OF THE CITY OF 

NEW YORK; AUTHOR OF '^PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATIONAL 

PRACTICE," "teaching CHILDREN TO READ" 




NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1915 



f 



Copyright, 1915, by 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 



APR 14 1915 

©Cf.Ay|)75U0 

7'h) ., 



I- 



5r 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

The author acknowledges his indebtedness to the 
many principals and grade teachers who furnished him 
with copies of compositions written by children under 
their charge. The writer is especially grateful to Mr. 
William E. Grady, Principal of Public School 64, New 
York City, from whose collection of children's compo- 
sitions and models he took, among others, the letter by 
Richard Mansfield to his son, "The Autobiography of 
ft Brutus' Sword," and "The Autobiography of a Base- 

ball." 



pi 



CONTENTS 



PART I 

THE EXPRESSIONAL ASPECT OF COMPOSI- 
TION 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATION . . i 
Composition a Natural Exercise, i ; The Art 
of Composition Is the Art of Thinking, 3; 
The Spirit in Composition Teaching, 4; The 
Teaching Problems in Composition, 6. 

II. INFORMAL COMPOSITION IN THE 

FIRST FOUR- YEARS 10 

Oral Conversation and Reproduction Les- 
sons 10 

The Method Governed by the Basic Difficul- 
ties, 10. 

Oral Work in the Primary Grades . . 12 

A. Conversation and Reproduction Lessons, 
12; Opportunities for Oral Language Les- 
son, 20. 

III. FORMAL COMPOSITION IN THE FIRST 

FOUR YEARS 22 

The Need of Formal Language Drills, 22; 
Memorization and Recitation, 23; Learning 
the Necessary Language Facts, 24; The Sys- 
tematic Correction of Common Errors of 
vii 



viii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Speech, 31; Development of Efficiency in 
Early Language Work Is Slow and Diffi- 
cult, 35. 
Written Work in the Primary Grades . . 38 
Its Minor Position, 38; The Transition from 
Oral to Written Composition, 39. 

IV. COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR 

GRADES . 42 

The Selection of a Proper Subject . . 42 

The Method-whole in Composition, 42; The 
Preparatory Period, 43. 
The Selection of the Subject .... 44 
The Sources of Subject-matter, 44. 

V. COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR 

GRADES (Continued) .... 63 
How Secure Organization and Sequence: 

The Outline 6^ 

The Tendency to Ramble, 6^; The Principle 
of Organization Taught by the Outline, 64; 
Values of the Outline, 66; The Drill to Insure 
Mastery of the Outline, 6y; Cautions in De- 
veloping Outlines, 70; How to Secure Va- 
riety in the Outlines, 71 ; How Closely Shall 
the Outline Be Followed? 74; Supplementary 
Means of Developing Power of Organiza- 
tion, 76. 

VI. COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR 

GRADES (Continued) .... 78 

EXPRESSIONAL LIMITATIONS : ThE MoDEL . . 78 

Group Teaching, 79 ; The Outline, 80 ; The In- 
timacy of Grammar and Composition, 80. 

The Model 82 

Basic Principle of Teaching Language 
Through a Model, 82; The Selection of the 



CONTENTS • ix 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Model, 83; General Treatment of the Model, 
91; How Closely Shall the Model Be Fol- 
lowed? 103; Should the Model Precede or 
Follow the Composition? 104; How to Pre- 
vent Slavish Imitation of the Model, 106. 

Vn. THE CORRECTION OF WRITTEN COM- 
POSITIONS . . . . . .115 

The Period of Written Composition, 115. 

The Period of Correction 119 

Objects of Correction, 119; The Time for 
Correction, 120; Incorrect Method, 120; The 
Method of Correcting Written Work, 122; 
Seeming Limitations of the Method, 124; 
Eliminating Individual Errors, 124; How 
Shall the Class Work Be Kept? 128; The Re- 
writing of Corrected .Compositions, 128. 

VIII. HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EX- 
ERCISES 130 

Introduction, 130; Greater Emphasis on Let- 
ters, 130; The Correspondence Should Treat 
of Actual Affairs of Real Life, 131 ; The Cor- 
respondence Itself Should Be Real, 132; The 
Class Journal with Its Board of Editors 
Elected or Selected, 133 ; Use Debatable Top- 
ics, 134; Aim at Variety of Form and Con- 
tent, 135; The Teacher, 157. 



PART II 
THE FORMAL ASPECT OF COMPOSITION 

IX. THE TEACHING OF SPELLING . • . .160 

Expressional vs. Formal Aspect of Composi- 
tion, 160; Spelling Usually Tested, Not 



X • CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Taught, i6o; Objects of the Teaching of 
Spelling, i6i ; Principles Guiding the Selec- 
tion of Spelling Words, 162; Source of Spell- 
ing Words, 165 ; Media of Presenting Spelling 
Words, 166; Method of Teaching Spelling, 
172; Procedure in Teaching Words, 172; Gen- 
eral Considerations Governing Drills in Spell- 
ing, 176; Independent Study of Spelling, 178; 
The Test in Spelling, 179; Record of Mis- 
spelled Words, 181 ; Enriching the Spelling 
List, 183. 

X. THE MEANING AND USE OF NEW 

WORDS 185 

The Enrichment of Vocabulary . . . 185 
Shall There Be Formal Instruction in the 
Meaning and Use of New Words? 185; Se- 
lection of the "Meaning and Use" List, 186; 
Methods of Teaching Meaning of New 
Words, 187; How Make the Use of New 
Words Habitual, 190; Definitions, 192; The 
Supplementary Means of Increasing Vocabu- 
lary, 194. 

XI. DICTATION: TEACHING THE FORMAL 

ASPECT OF COMPOSITION . . .198 

Objects of Dictation Lessons, 197; The 
Choice of the Selection to Be Dictated, 198; 
Procedure in the Dictation Lesson, 200. 

XIL MEMORY GEMS: MEMORIZATION AND 

^ RECITATION 206 

Value of Memory Gems, 206; The Selection 
of the Memory Gem, 207; Motivating the 
Memory Gems, 208; Procedure in Memoriz- 
ing Literary Gems, 209; Retention Through 



CONTENTS xi 

CHAPTES PAGE 

Thought Rather than Through Memory Ap- 
peal, 213; Aids to Memorization, 214; The 
Recitation, 214. 

XIII. THE VALUES OF FORMAL GRAMMAR . 217 

The Disputed Place of Grammar in the Mod- 
ern Curriculum, 217; Grammar a Discredited 
Subject, 218; Values of Grammar, 223. 

XIV. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE TEACH- 

ING OF GRAMMAR 229 

Begin with the Sentence, 229; Make the 
Work as Concrete and Practical as Possible, 
230; Shall the Method in Grammar Be In- 
ductive or Deductive? 232; The Use of the 
Type Form Must Not Be Overem.phasized, 
239; By Avoiding Stereotyped Definitions 
and Set Formulae We Are Saved from An- 
other Erroneous Form of Teaching Grammar, 
240; The Application Step Is the Final Jus- 
tification of Grammar and Must Be Accord- 
ed the Most Important Place in the Les- 
son, 242; Function Should Be Made Focal 
in All Grammatical Analysis, 244; Analysis 
Is Important but We Must Not Analyze for 
the Sake of Analysis, 245; "Parsing Is Es- 
sential if Used Within Bounds," 246; "False 
Syntax" Must Be Emphasized, for It Is an 
Effective Means of Applying the Facts of 
Grammar, 248; Great Care Must Be Ex- 
ercised in the Organization of Tests, 249; 
Proper Reviews Are Essential for Success- 
ful Work in Grammar, 255; The Textbook 
Must Be Used Frequently in the Teaching 
of Grammar, 256; Careful Gradation is a 
Potent Factor in Removing Difficulties of 
i Comprehension in Grammar, 257; All Gram- 



xii CONTENTS 

matical Forms and Functions Must Be Taught 
in the Same Association in Which They Will 
Be Used in Natural Speech, 259; Summary: 
Place of Grammar in the Elementary Cur- 
riculum, 262. 



THE TEACHING OF 
ENGLISH 



PART I 

THE EXPRESSIONAL ASPECT OF 
COMPOSITION 

CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATION 

Composition a Natural Exercise. — Composition is that 
exercise in which ideas are ordered in a rational 
sequence and then expressed in accordance with 
recognized standards of form. This broad concep- 
tion of the term composition shows at once how 
varied the art of composing may be, for there are as 
many kinds of composition as there are forms of 
expression. He who is dramatizing an action that 
grips him, making a pictorial representation of a 
scene that thrills him, or translating in symbols of 
musical notation a melody or sentiment that charms 
him, is engaged in the art of composition as truly as 
if he were employing language, written or oral, to 
express this action or scene or sentiment. In all these 
kinds of art an individual must group his ideas in 

I 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

rational sequence and give expression to theni in 
strict accord with st^dard forms. This study con- 
cerns itself with one phase only of the general art of 
composition, for it confines itself to verbal composi- 
tion. 

This theoretical definition has a very practical bear- 
ing on the work of the elementary school-teacher be- 
cause it shows clearly how simple and natural an 
art composition is. It strips composition of the 
mystery and of the stiff and forbidding formalism 
which usually accompany it. Children must be 
shown that they are constantly composing, that 
they have been constantly composing and that they 
will continue to compose as long as they participate 
in rational communication. Composition must be 
shown to them to be as necessary an activity as talk- 
ing or walking. The child must be led to recognize 
that he has 'Composition ability" of no mean degree. 
Teachers, too, must realize that most children are not 
deficient in the art of composition. As we listen to a 
narrative of a ten-year-old lad who is giving his 
friend a verbal picture of the athletic game he saw, 
or to a description by his little sister, half his age, of 
the particular doll that has caught her fancy, we be- 
come convinced that the art of composition is not 
foreign to the child. In the formal classroom lesson 
the life of the informal narrative and the charm of 
the child's description are ruthlessly crushed by the 
formidable technical laws of grammar and rhetopc 
which are imposed upon children. How to transfer 
this native ability to compose, so manifest in informal 

2 



INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATION 

intercourse, to the formal language lessons, is the 
problem, the solution of which shall occupy the suc- 
ceeding chapters. 

Tlie Art of Composition Is the Art of Thinking. — Com- 
position properly taught has far-reaching educational 
influences. The very definition and illustrations of 
the art of composition show that it gives the child a 
training in thinking through a process of self-expres- 
sion. A well-graded systematic course in composition 
is a means of developing clear and sequential thought. 
But the thought activities of the child are developed 
in composition only as the pupil consistently and per- 
sistently expresses himself. This form of mental de- 
velopment through self-expression is the ideal in the 
educative process. This estimate of the educational 
worth of composition is not extravagant when com- 
pared to the conceptions of its educative worth as 
formulated by specialists in the teaching of English. 
Sykes tells us that in composition, *'The pupil's mind 
and life must be brought into close relationship with 
his efforts at self-expression." If we recall the defi- 
nition of composition, this statement follows as a 
natural corollary. Carpenter, Baker, and Scott see 
in composition an exercise which is "a process of 
growth of the child's own capabilities, by careful ob- 
servation, correct inference and adequate expression." 
The teaching of composition involves more than 
merely teaching the child to express himself ; it means 
teaching him to see and to think and to formulate 
correctly and systematically the inferences from life's 
experiences. 

3 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

The Spirit in Composition Teaching. — The failure or 
the success of a composition lesson is determined to 
a greater extent than in almost any other school sub- 
ject, by the spirit in which the recitation is conceived 
and carried out. In order to insure the proper at- 
mosphere and spirit rapport between pupils and 
teacher two general cautions must constantly be kept 
in mind. 

1. The Play Spirit Must Pervade the Composition 
Period. — Composition is too often an unwelcome 
period to the child. It completely overwhelms him 
with technicalities and empty formalism. He is asked 
to write on topics that are far indeed from his sphere 
of life; there is little that he cares to say about them. 
If by chance the topic is one concerning which he 
feels an urgency to express himself, he finds that all 
pleasure of self-expression is lost, for he must be 
careful of his penmanship; he must spell words in 
accordance with a tradition that seems to obey no 
phonetic law; his verbs must show agreement with 
subjects; he must bear in mind punctuation, capital- 
ization, the thousand annoying concerns and cares 
that make composition a burden in his school life. 
Composition is an art and, like all art, is conceived in 
the spirit of play and is designed to give intense 
pleasure. The composition of the classroom must be 
as attractive as any other art and as natural as play.^ 

2. Technique Must Be Subordinated to Expres- 

ion. — The second word of caution reminds the 

teacher that in a composition exercise, form must be 

subordinated to content. In the formal lesson the child 

4 



INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATION 

must be no more conscious of the laws of paragraph- 
ing, of sentence structure or of punctuation than he is 
conscious of these in the informal speech of his daily 
life. The child should learn the laws of sequence, 
coherence, narration and description as he learns the 
laws of an athletic game. In baseball, the child gives 
all attention to the playing, not to the science of the 
game; in the actual progress of the game the rules 
are mere incidentals. No boy has ever deliberately 
memorized the regulations governing various athletic 
activities; yet what a mastery of them he has devel- 
oped! The science of the game and the niceties of 
form which the child acquires are unconscious results 
of constant playing for the sake of the game itself 
rather than for its technique. So, too, the laws of 
unity, development, suspension, ease, force — the 
whole series of rhetorical laws which constitute the 
literary technique so pretentiously imposed upon the 
child — should be learned through actual expression 
rather than through formal teaching. A composition 
lesson, conceived in any but this informal spirit, and 
conducted with a rigor and a formalism altogether too 
frequent in class instruction, must inevitably produce 
the stilted and lifeless effects which the average school 
child turns out. In the light of these two cautions 
which are sounded in the initial step in the study of 
methods of teaching composition, we cannot be too 
severe in our condemnation of the pedagogy which 
the educational system of one of our leading cities 
offered to its teachers in its manual. Although it is 
not part of the current manual of that city, its s^jirit 

5 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

still animates much of the work in elementary com- 
position. 

When any topic such as sugar, nickel, circulation of the 
blood or the indestructibility of matter has been as fully 
treated in a conversational lesson and review as may be 
thought expedient, the exercise in composition should imme- 
diately follov^. This should be a class exercise. Care should 
be taken that the pupils do not make them so long as to pre- 
vent proper correction. To insure a proper variety of 
thought and expression it is necessary that the oral lesson 
which formed the basis of the composition should be so 
selected as to give a considerable number of interesting 
points or items. If injuriously frequent repetition and re- 
view are avoided the several pupils will recall different 
groups of items and all undue sameness will be prevented. 
When identical phrases or sentences are frequently found 
in the exercises they are unquestionable evidence of bad 
methods, both in the oral lessons and in the teaching of 
composition. 

The Teaching Problems in Composition. — In the teach- 
ing of composition there is a threefold aim which 
must be achieved. We must now turn to each mem- 
ber of this triple problem to consider its importance 
and scope in class teaching. 

The first aim in the teaching of composition is to 
stimulate a thought basis for expression. As the 
formal composition lesson begins, the sources of ex- 
pression seem to dry up, and the children seem to 
have no problem in their lives that demands expres- 
sion, no urgency that craves solution, no personal 
preference that prompts intercourse and an at- 
tempt at convincing others. This seeming dearth 

6 



INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATION 

of material worthy of expression does not present 
a very difficult teaching problem. A little thought 
and sympathetic insight into child life soon re- 
veal a great number of topics that especially 
appeal to the imagination of growing children, to 
their love of story, of action, of biography. The 
child's emotions and interests are intense even if 
they are short-lived; his likes and dislikes are 
many though ever changing. The sympathetic 
and resourceful teacher therefore need never 
lack an appropriate subject for children's composi- 
tions. 

The second problem is to teach our children the 
laws of expression, the standards of language. The 
child must learn and obey the rules prescribed by 
legitimate usage, by grammar, and rhetoric. Here, 
too, we have a comparatively simple pedagogical task. 
A little patience and skill will enable a teacher to 
teach any law of grammar or rhetoric appropriate to 
the age and capabilities of the children. If the first 
lesson does not bring comprehension, a second or a 
third period of graded and properly presented exer- 
cises will serve this end. 

The third aim of composition teaching is to incul- 
cate in the pupil the habit of employing in the expres- 
sion of his ideas those laws and principles of compo- 
sition that have been taught him. This is the most 
vital problem, for it is the crux in composition teach- 
ing. Any seventh-year pupil can be taught that 
double negatives are wrong, that a participle alone 
cannot be a predicate, but not every child can be read- 

7 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ily trained to avoid "ain't got no," "I seen," or "he 
done" — expressions that have the force of years of 
constant use back of them. 

Habit is the result of constant drill through regular 
and frequent repetitions. Class teaching is today so 
hampered by its inherent limitations that this drill in 
sufficient repetitions in composition lessons is almost 
impossible. Composition has a science and an art 
side. The science of composition the child can readily 
learn but the art of composition he acquires only after 
long, conscientious and laborious practice. It must 
also be remembered that the incorrect forms that are 
characteristic of the speech of children have already 
been habituated and, in many cases, are further 
strengthened by the influences of home and street. 
The teacher must realize the colossal task that c^^ti- 
fronts him in composition teaching in all cosmopolitan 
cities and towns. Teachers must learn to feel that 
they are teachers of composition first and foremost, 
that an error in English is primary, that inaccuracies 
in facts of history, geography or arithmetic may, and 
should, be subordinated to correctness of speech. 
Teachers in the departmental system who are respon- 
sible for only one or two subjects must bear this par- 
ticular dictum in mind. The departmental teacher 
who teaches English must communicate with his col- 
leagues, tell them the specific forms of speech that 
are being taught and thus secure their cooperation by 
asking them to constantly correct the speech of chil- 
dren in all subjects. Unless teachers consciously em- 
phasize the application of the lessons of the English 

8 



INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATION 

period in all lessons, it would be better to eliminate 
the formal teaching of language. 



SUGGESTED READING ^ 

Carpenter, Baker and Scott. The Teaching of 
English, pp. 75-81. Longmans, Green & Co. 

Hosic, James F. The Elementary School Course in 
English, Introduction. University of Chicago 
Press. 

O'Shea, M. V. Linguistic Development and Educa- 
tion, chaps. I and II. The Macmillan Co. 

* The bibliographies at the end of each chapter are not 
exhaustive. The aim is, rather, to suggest such reading as 
will amplify and elaborate the various phases of the subject 
treated in each chapter. Where the publisher is not men- 
tioned, the reader will find the book or the reference listed 
at the end of a previous chapter. 



CHAPTER II 

INFORMAL COMPOSITION IN THE FIRST FOUR 

YEARS 

ORAL CONVERSATION AND REPRODUCTION LESSONS 

The Method Governed by the Basic Difficulties. — Be- 
fore planning her method of presentation in a specific 
subject, a teacher must comprehend clearly the basic 
problems which confront her. The method she finally 
evolves must be such as is designed to meet these spe- 
cific difficulties. The primary grade teacher feels her- 
self completely overwhelmed by a host of puzzling 
conditions which the children create when the formal 
work in composition is begun. When finally system- 
atized and simplified, these difficulties group them- 
selves under three heads. What, then, are the basic 
difficulties which children present to the teacher of 
primary composition? 

The initial problem is found in the fact that these 
children seem to have nothing to say in the dignified 
composition period. The noisy, active, talkative child 
is now a social vacuum. A second aggravating prob- 
lem is produced by the timidity and the backwardness 
of the child. The newness of the work, the strange- 
ness of classroom procedure, the consciousness of per- 

10 



INFORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

sonal limitations make these children unable to forget 
themselves, to come out of their shells, to lose them- 
selves in the subject that the teacher suggests. It is 
obvious that much coaxing and emotional sympathy 
are necessary. The difficulty of these circumstances 
Is increased by a third problem, viz., the deficiency of 
expression. The vocabularies of these children seem 
too meager to enable them to express themselves even 
if they have ideas that crave communication. 

In the light of the basic difficulties that we have 
enumerated, what must the method of Instruction be? 
The answer was suggested in the observation above: 
the method must be governed by these problems; It 
must seek to counteract them at every step In the 
lesson. With this end in view it can readily be seen 
that the method must be, In the main, an oral one — 
almost exclusively so in the first two years of the 
course — with only a crude attempt at written compo- 
sition in the third year. It is through skillful oral 
Instruction that the patient teacher strives to awaken 
In the mind of the child preferences and Interests that 
crave expression; It Is through the Interest and the 
Ingenuity of the treatment that she hopes to attract 
the child until he becomes so absorbed In the topic 
that he forgets himself and Is thus no longer con- 
scious of personal limitations, and talks freely and 
spontaneously; it Is through proper gradation and 
organization of the oral lesson that a few words and 
expressions are made central In each topic and by 
dint of repetition become part of the child's vocab- 
ulary; it is through constant and untiring corrections 

II 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

in oral drills that incorrect forms of speech are under- 
mined and finally eradicated. We must turn then to 
a consideration of the nature, the organization and 
the method of oral work in composition in the early- 
grades. 

ORAL WORK IN THE PRIMARY GRADES 

A. Conversation and Reproduction Lessons. — i. The 
Choice of a Subject. — The most common form of 
oral composition is the conversation, and the repro- 
duction lesson. The terms are self-explanatory and 
make formal definition unnecessary. The first prob- 
lem that challenges the teacher's thought in these oral 
lessons is the choice of the proper subject. The 
teacher must exercise great care that she presents no 
subject that has a thought difficult for the child. It 
must be a topic with which the child is conversant and 
which immediately suggests a host of ideas in his 
mind, pressing for expression. Secondly, it must be 
a theme replete with action. Every sentence must 
have a **doing word" in the predicate. These imma- 
ture minds find no fascination in qualities, observa- 
tions and inferences. Thirdly, the topic must be, if 
possible, one about which the child has a preference. 
''Shall We Have a Relay Race or a Ring Game at 
Recess?" is bound to elicit an answer from a normal 
child. ''The Kind of Dog I Want for My Pet," 
prompts eloquent speech in every boy. 

It is well to select for this oral work a series of 
stories which are told by the teacher and are then 
used as material for reproduction lessons. These 

12 



INFORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

stories, properly selected, become a source of 
far-reaching values for the development of the 
child. They afford the child an informal and very 
agreeable means of developing sustained thought; 
they add to the child's stock of words and expres- 
sions; they introduce the child to idiomatic English; 
they give the children their heritage of fable, folklore 
and stories that have inspired the race to higher ideals 
of life; and finally they furnish excellent material for 
self-expression because these stories, by their interest- 
ing content, stir in each child a strong motive for 
communication. 

2. Mode of Treatment. — Having selected a suit- 
able topic for oral composition, the teacher is now 
occupied with the method of presenting it to the class, 
and with the conduct of the lesson. We must be 
sure that the facts of the topic are not the goal of 
the lesson, hence we need have little concern about 
how exhaustively the theme is treated. Take only 
the surface facts, talk about the topic rather than 
on the topic, follow a free and easy sequence if the 
children are happier in this development. Freedom 
is the keynote of the course of the lesson. Hence 
it must not be considered amiss if the pupils change 
details, or make personal additions or rational mod- 
ifications. This is not a test period and the lesson 
must not be conducted in a "quiz" spirit. The main 
object is to arouse such interest and enthusiasm in the 
subject that the children will lose themselves in it 

Nevertheless, we must guard against mere prat- 
tle. The lesson must possess definite teaching char- 

13 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

acteristics. Chief among them we must mention the 
following : 

v^ a. Real Motive and Social Spirit. Unusual care 
must be taken to prevent the discussion from becom- 
ing perfunctory. Children must be made to feel 
that they are talking not because they must but be- 
cause there is an urgency to communicate a con- 
viction, to narrate a personal incident, or to give pleas- 
ure to others through the telling of interesting ex- 
periences. These promptings must serve to make 
the oral language work in the class as natural as 
oral communication in everyday life and thus infuse 
real motive into class discussions. 

b. The Teacher's Aim. Before each discussion or 
reproduction the teacher must decide on the ultimate 
purpose of the lesson. If vocabulary is to be in- 
creased, what words are the children to acquire and 
what means must be adopted to make these words 
part of the pupils' expressional stock? If new type 
forms of phrases or sentences are to be learned, what 
shall the teacher do to introduce these naturally and 
frequently and to insure their use? It may be that 
the aim is to give pleasing content, stir imagination, 
provoke personal opinion — but in all cases the teacher 
must have an aim which molds the lesson and deter- 
mines its organization. 

c. Logical Organization. The theme must be un- 
folded with due regard to rational sequence of ideas. 

d. All Children to Participate. It is necessary that 
every effort be made to have all children take active 
part in the discussion. Many lessons in oral compo- 

14 



INFORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

sition fail because the teacher neglects the backward 
and the diffident children who are crowded out of 
the lesson by the brighter and the more responsive 
pupils. 

3. Dramatisation an Aid in Oral Reproduction and 
Conversation Exercises. — The teacher who finds the 
diffidence of some of her children a vexing problem 
and a cause for their failure to participate in the 
class discussions and reproductions may enlist the 
enthusiasm of these timid pupils by an emphasis on 
dramatization. No appropriate theme that can be 
motorized should be overlooked, or, if selected, should 
be developed by exclusively verbal means. Dramati- 
zation has much to contribute to oral composition. 
It gives the retiring child a new interest in self- 
expression; it dispels ultra self-consciousness; it gives 
to expression a naturalness which it may otherwise 
lack and thus makes self-expression the pleasurable 
exercise that it is under normal conditions. But these 
ends of dramatization are lost unless it is spontane- 
ous, and has its origin in the child's craving for 
motor expression. Successful classroom dramatiza- 
tion is free from affectation, and never degenerates 
into mere entertainment. In planning a lesson in 
oral composition, the teacher must seek to incorporate 
as many motor aids as possible for only then will 
the children be caught by the enthusiasm of the situ- 
ation and experience the joy of communication. 

4. Systematization of the Daily Topics. — The sug- 
gestion for freedom and spontaneity in the conduct 
of an oral composition lesson does not argue for a 

15 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

lack of organization in these conversation and re- 
production lessons. While the children are permitted 
to develop the topic in any way that gives maximum 
expression, the subjects that are offered must follow 
a rational system. Monotony is the pitfall that must 
constantly be avoided in all this work. The only way 
to guard against it and insure stimulating variety is 
to change the nature of the topic daily. Thus, on 
Monday, it is a personal experience; on Tuesday, it 
is an ethical topic; on Wednesday, a theme in nature 
study is selected ; on Thursday, the reading lesson of- 
fers interesting material for reproduction; on Fri- 
day, an exposition of a process learned in the manual 
training period affords material for conversation. 
How varied a list the teacher has at her command 
may be seen from the following table: 

Partial List of Appropriate Topics 

1. Narration of Personal Experiences: **What I 
Saw Coming to School," *'An Accident on the Street," 
''Going to a Fire," ''The Game at Recess," "Our 
Outing to /' etc. 

2. Nature Study: Conversation Lessons on 
"Birds," "Insects," "Flowers," etc.; topics that form 
the assignment in the course of study for the grade. 

3. Description: "Pets," "Playthings," "Pictures," 
"Places Visited," etc. 

4. Story of the Occupations Seen in the Child's 
Environment: The work of the baker, shoemaker, 
carpenter, policeman, fireman, etc. 

16 



INFORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

5. Habits of Cleanliness: "How to Have Clean 
Teeth/' "How to Look Bright and Attractive," etc. 

6. Habits of Politeness: "How to Behave at Ta- 
ble," "How to Behave in a Conversation," etc. 

The last mentioned topics, as well as many of the 
others, lend themselves readily to simple and effective 
dramatization which arouses interest, and prompts 
more natural and expressive speech in children. 

7. Commands by Children to Class: Pupils take 
turn in giving orders to class at dismissals, at recess, 
while passing or collecting various materials, etc. 
These exercises are valuable aids in developing ef- 
ficiency in oral speech because they tend to inspire 
courage in the timid and backward child, they show 
the need of definiteness and precision in speech, and 
they insure natural rather than formal speech. 

8. Reproduction of a Story: The original story 
may have been told by the teacher, read from a book 
to the class, or read by the children themselves. 

9. Number Lessons and Number Games. 

10. Exposition: "How to Set the Table," "How 
We Made a Picture Frame," "How to Make a Kite," 
etc. 

11. Argumentative Conversation: "Where to Go 
oh an Outing," "What Game to Play at Recess," etc. 

This is only a partial list to which the teacher can 
add by drawing on her fund of experience. It is 
submitted merely to show the primary teacher that 
despite the simplicity of the work and the limited 
mental resources of the children she nevertheless has 
a list of topics rich enough to afford interesting va- 

17 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

riety and an opportunity to break away from the 
dulling sameness which is characteristic of much of 
the oral composition work in the lower classes. 

5. How Do These Oral Lessons Solve the Basic 
Diificidtiesf — We must now interpret these oral les- 
sons as remedial measures for the difficulties that 
were outlined at the beginning of the chapter and 
show how they are designed to answer the needs of 
the teacher of primary composition. Let us review, 
briefly, the three problems, the children's lack of 
material for expression, their backwardness, and their 
expressional limitations. It is evident that the variety 
and the nature of the topics that are selected are de- 
signed to counteract the first two of these limitations 
for they give the child plenty of subject-matter that 
is intensely interesting and capable of arousing such 
enthusiasm as will transcend the bonds of self-con- 
sciousness. Once the child has caught the joy of 
self-expression, the final problems, limitations of vo- 
cabulary and inaccuracies of speech, can be solved. As 
each child errs, the teacher judiciously makes the 
correction. Constant repetition of the same correc- 
tions of typical errors will soon show positive re- 
sults. In each topic the teacher selects a few words 
and expressions, possibly five or six, that are most 
peculiar to it. In the conversation and dramatization 
lesson of ''How to Pass a Person," such expressions 
as ''excuse me," "beg your pardon," "polite," "im- 
pohte," and "rude" are indelibly impressed upon the 
mind of the child through repetition. In the lesson 
"The Kind of Dog I Want for a Pet," such words 

18 



INFORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

as "good appearance," "handsome," "brave," "cour- 
ageous," "loyal," etc., are made central until the pu- 
pil carries them away as his own. The teacher must 
be ever ready to offer those words which each les- 
son is to contribute toward a richer vocabulary. As 
the child hesitates for want of a word, the teacher 
suggests it and thereby keeps the thought running in 
the pupil's mind and saves him from the paralyzing 
effect which a consciousness of his verbal limitations 
is sure to produce. But these results will not follow 
from a haphazard series of conversation lessons. The 
topics must be carefully selected and organized into 
a progressively graded series. Each lesson must be 
planned to enrich the vocabulary and to correct the 
most flagrant inaccuracies in the speech of young 
pupils. 

6. The Danger of Formalism in Early Work in 
English: Impression, Expression, Formal Instruction 
the Desired Sequence. — The great danger in early 
composition lessons is the introduction of a crushing 
formalism which robs the lesson of all expressional 
pleasures and renders the topic under discussion a 
mere excuse for a drill in mastery of words or in 
idiomatic or grammatical forms. It must be remem- 
bered that all technical elements of speech must grow 
naturally out of preceding discussions of interesting 
themes. The steps in early language work can there- 
fore be summed up as three: (a) impression; (b) ex- 
pression; (c) formal language instruction. 

The first concern of the teacher must be to stir the 
child's self-activity, so that it acquires a liberal stock 

19 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

of experiences, together with a rich imagery of all 
of them. Hence the lessons in nature study, in read- 
ing, in local history and geography and in manual 
training must be regarded as forming the first step in 
composition, for in all of these the child is acquiring 
a large variety of ideas. But class instruction in all 
these subjects that is properly motivated stirs in each 
child a desire to reproduce what it sees clearly or to 
communicate to others convictions that have been im- 
planted. The more interesting the impression, the 
more intense is the child's yearning for expression. 
The expressional phases in all lessons must therefore 
be looked upon as exercises in composition, for they 
train children in the art of self-expression. Errors 
of vocabulary, of grammar, etc., made by children 
in the course of natural speech should now form the 
basis of formal instruction in English. To deviate 
from this order, impression, expression, formal in- 
struction, is to court a formalism which deadens all 
language work in the grades. 

Opportunities for Oral Language Lesson. — In conclud- 
ing the chapter on conversation and reproduction les- 
sons, we must again emphasize the principle that was 
made basic in the initial discussion, viz., the manifold 
opportunities that the teacher finds in the curriculum 
for giving children the necessary practice in language 
work. Every subject, even manual training and calis- 
thenics, can be utilized as material for language les- 
sons. The less we rely on the formal language period 
and the more we look upon all subjects in the cur- 
riculum as agents in developing the art of speech, the 

20 



INFORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

surer are we to give children the language proficiency 
that should ultimately be developed. In addition we 
must urge the values for composition, of memoriza- 
tion and recitation of selected prose and poetry. 
These memory selections give children, among other 
returns, models of correct speech, enlarged vocabu- 
laries and beautiful sentiments beautifully expressed. 
Unless we look upon the whole curriculum as a 
scheme to develop proficiency in language, formal 
composition lessons become both sterile and stupid. 



SUGGESTED READING 

The suggested reading for this chapter will be found 
at the end of Chapter III. 



CHAPTER III 

FORMAL COMPOSITION IN THE FIRST FOUR 

YEARS 

The Need of Formal Language Drills. — The discussion 
of the teaching of composition in the first four years 
of the elementary course has thus far concerned itself 
exclusively with the means of stirring and sustaining 
natural and enthusiastic speech in the classroom. The 
method outlined in the preceding chapter sought 
therefore to free itself from all formalism, from all 
rules of language, and from conscious focalization 
on the technique of speech. The child saw no serious 
object in the conversation or reproduction lesson; the 
teacher, not the child, was aware of an attempt to in- 
troduce a series of model expressions, to occasion 
natural communication, or to increase vocabulary. 
We come now to a discussion of the more formal 
side of language work in the first half of the school 
course. If the environment of our pupils were thor- 
oughly Americanized in language, as well as in cus- 
toms and ideals, there would be no need of adding to 
the informal work in composition previously out- 
lined for the early years. But when we realize the 
foreign influences and languages that make up the 
environment of many of our pupils, it becomes ap- 

22, 



FORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

parent that merely hearing correct and corrected 
speech in the classroom, will not serve to counteract 
the persistent impressions of incorrect speech which 
are borne in on the vast majority of children of for- 
eign parentage. Even in the early years formal lan- 
guage lessons must be given, drills must be had on 
set language forms, and typical errors of speech must 
be systematically undermined and supplanted by cor- 
rect forms. This formal work in the primary classes 
can take three forms, viz. : ( i ) memorisation and 
recitation, (2) teaching necessary language facts, and 
(3) correction of common errors of speech. Let us 
turn to these in the order in which they are enumer- 
ated. 

Memorization and Recitation. — It is obvious that 
memorization and recitation of properly selected prose 
and poetry tends, among other ends, to enrich a child's 
stock of words and phrases, to give him a series of 
interesting ideas and inspiring ideals in a form truly 
artistic, to train in organizing ideas and to discour- 
age self-consciousness. The value of this form of 
language work in early classes is obvious, but the 
method that is followed determines the degree to 
which these ends are attained. Few lessons are as 
stilted and depressing as a perfunctory recitation of a 
memorized selection in which each child recites merely 
to satisfy the teacher that he has memorized the 
words and lines in proper sequence. As the method 
of conducting these lessons is treated fully in the 
latter part of the book, the reader is referred to a 
subsequent chapter. 

23 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Learning the Necessary Language Facts. — Their Use 
for Certain Classes of Children. — We took occasion 
to note in a preceding discussion that the child whose 
own language abounds with barbarisms, and whose 
environment tends to perpetuate these, must be given 
a series of language drills which will tend to teach 
the basic forms and constructions of our tongue. 
Mere imitation of the teacher's English is not ef- 
ficacious, for it cannot counteract all the contrary 
forces in the child's environment. Rigorous and per- 
sistent drills are necessary to teach these children 
not to say: "I brang my books," "He writ his les- 
sons," "He hurted himself," "It growed there," ''He 
learns me out/' ''It stands zvritten/' "Every morning 
I put myself on" (dress myself), "a eye for a eye," 
"five mans and six mans is eleven/' "five gooses/' 
"This is more heavier than that," "The boys is good," 
"Me and him went," "Me hat and me coat is on the 
nail," etc. These errors are not imaginary. They 
form part of a list that the author gathered in the 
primary grades in one school. True, no one child 
made all of these errors, but every child heard all of 
them. It is evident that the informal work outlined 
in the preceding chapter lacks the vigor and the con- 
centrated effort necessary to banish such barbarisms 
from the speech of these children. 

Cautions in Early Language Lessons. — Great care 
must be taken in planning these formal drills for the 
early grades. There are a number of cautions that 
must be observed lest we dissipate the worth of these 
language lessons. 

24 



FORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

I. The teacher must realize that these drills on 
language forms are not lessons in elementary gram- 
mar. No attempt must be made to introduce termi- 
nology or rules. It is not necessary that the child 
know why ''me hat and me coat" must give way to 
''7ny hat and my coat." In the grammar lesson, the 
justification for the use of the possessive form ''my,'' 
and the reasons for the condemnation of the objec- 
tive form, "me,'' must be given; in these early les- 
sons the child takes language forms on faith and the 
teacher is concerned primarily with the problem of 
developing in the pupils the habit of using "my" 
rather than "me" in these expressions. 

2. It must be remembered that an isolated language 
form does not become part of spontaneous speech. 
The child who recites "my hat," "my coat," "my 
book," "my ring," etc., nevertheless falls back to 
"You should have seen 'me' team play," when en- 
gaged in natural conversation. Unless the form is 
taught in natural context, it will not serve to reha- 
bilitate the speech of the child. 

3. It is obvious that an occasional lesson on any 
correct form of speech will not insure its use. Un- 
remitting drills, well-graded and varied drills are 
necessary to put our pupils on their guard against 
the influences of the incorrect language that may 
assail their ears. 

4. The supervisor of this work must remember 
that this part of the curriculum must be very flexi- 
ble, for the language facts to be taught vary with 
each school district in the cosmopolitan cities and 

25 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

towns of the country. It is evident, therefore, that 
in some schools the list of language facts to be taught 
will be long, while in others it will reduce itself to 
only a very few facts, or even none at all. 

Method of Teaching Necessary Language Facts. — 
It remains for us therefore to indicate clearly how 
these necessary language facts are to be taught. To 
give this work natural context, it is best to group these 
language drills around a language center. The New 
York City syllabus offers an illustration of the point 
in question. It assigns as basic for language drills 
in the fourth and fifth years,* the four types of sen- 
tences which give the most important forms of 
thought, viz., (i) what things do, (2) what is done 
to things, (3) what the qualities of things are, and 
(4) what things are. How can these forms of ex- 
pressing thought become the center of drills on neces- 
sary language facts? 

Let us turn our attention to the first-type form 
of sentence. The teacher introduces this type by 
calling on the children to tell what men do for a liv- 
ing. With little trouble there is elicited the follow- 
ing: 

"The farmer plants corn and wheat.'' 

"Soldiers fight battles.'' 

"The shoemaker mends old shoes." 

"The jeweler makes rings and pins." 

At the next lesson the problem is to list what the 
city does for us. In like manner the following was 
obtained from a fourth-year class : 

"New York City gives us many parks." 

26 



FORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

"It sends its children to school." 
"The fire department puts out many fires." 
"The health department saves many lives." 
Each lesson assigns a central theme around which 
children form sentences of the first type. Care must 
be taken not to allow these sentences to become 
heterogeneous; each day's lesson must have its dis- 
tinctive center around which these sentences are 
grouped. Interest is sustained by the variety of ideas 
contributed. 

After children can give sentences v/ith a fair de- 
gree of fluency, each group of expressions may be 
reviewed in an exercise in which they try to find the 
"who" or "what" word and the "doing" word of each 
sentence. ^'The farmers plant corn and zvheaf is 
therefore submitted to this analysis and the children 
conclude that farmers is the "who" word and plant 
the "doing" word. In like manner, ''Neiv York City 
gives people many parks'' is analyzed, and the chil- 
dren conclude that New York City is the "what" 
word and gives the "doing" word. This exercise is 
continued for a number of lessons until children gain 
facility in recognizing subject and predicate. 

The next step in the lesson is to take known sen- 
tences and require the children to keep the "doing" 
word and change the "who" or "what" word. ''The 
fire department puts out many Hres' thus becomes, 
"The firemen put out many fires/' "Policemen put 
out many fires/' "Brave men put out many fires/' etc. 
In the same way children are required to keep the 
"who" or "what" word and change the "doing" word. 

27 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

The original sentence quoted above then becomes, 
''The fire department saves many lives/' "The fire 
department answers the fire alarms/' ''The fire de- 
partment sends out the engines/' etc. Such synthetic 
exercises give children practice in making sentences 
and develop in them a feeling for the function of the 
subject and predicate. 

The next progressive set of drills requires a change 
of number of the "who" or "what" word. Thus, for 
the first of these drills the teacher gives only regular 
nouns, the plurals of which are formed merely by 
adding "s" or "es." The sentence "The farmers plant 
corn and wheat" is written on the board and the 
children are required to change to the singular, "The 
farmer plants corn and wheat" ; or the teacher may 
give the singular, "The jeweler makes rings and pins/' 
and ask for the plural, "The jewelers make rings and 
pins." In the succeeding drills the children learn of 
nouns, the plurals of which are formed by changing 
"y" to "i" and adding "es"; of others where "f" is 
changed to "v," and "es" is added, and of still others 
that must be changed in form entirely, like "ox, 
oxen," "tooth, teeth," "child, children," etc. In this 
series of drills the child not only learns the plurals 
of useful nouns but also develops a sensitivity for 
the agreement of subject and predicate. After much 
repetition the child learns that it is wrong to say "the 
farmers plants," just as it is incorrect to say "many 
tooths." In neither case does the teacher give the 
reason. 

Up to this point the sentences have been declarative 

28 



FORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

in form. Interrogative sentences are now taken up. 
The teacher asks, ''Do the farmers plant their cornf 
and, ''Does the farmer plant his corn?" and the chil- 
dren reply respectively, "Yes, they do plant their 
corn'' and "Yes, he does plant Ms corn." The same 
groups of sentences are now reviewed in their inter- 
rogative form and the child receives further drill on 
plural forms, learns the use of the auxiliary "do," 
which is peculiar to the English language and acquires 
a feeling for the agreement in number of pronoun and 
antecedent. 

The negative statements are now the subjects for a 
series of graded drills. The teacher asks, "Do farm- 
ers waste any timet" and the children reply, "No, 
they do not waste any time," or, "No, he does not 
waste any time," if the singular is required. These 
negative drills, given patiently and consistently, will 
undermine the double negative, so frequent in the 
speech of those children whose English is acquired on 
the street. 

What was done with the first type, what things do, 
can be done with the second type, what is done to 
things. The third and the fourth types, the qualities 
of things and what things are, offer even wider range 
of drills in language structure and vocabulary. The 
following are suggestions for possible language les- 
sons based on the third type of expression : 

I. Oral Composition. Topic: '^The Park." Sen- 
tences of third type elicited: The park is large, The 
trees are beautiful. The flowers are sweet. The foun- 
tain is pretty, etc. 

29 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

2. Analysis showing "who" or "what" word and 
"quality" word. 

3. Keep "who" or "what" word and change "qual- 
ity" word; vice versa. 

4. Make sentences of the following: the green 
leaves, the pretty fountain, etc. 

5. State whether the following things are hard or 
soft, cool or warm, large or small, rough or smooth, 
etc. Give a list of nouns, and elicit the sentences from 
the children. 

6. State opposite qualities or state other words to 
express the same quality : The day is warm, The day 
is cool. The day is chilly, etc., hence a vocabulary drill. 

7. Plurals and Singulars. 

8. Interrogative Form. 

9. Negative Form. 

10. Given any topic, "The Snow," for instance, re- 
quire sentences of all types, as follows: "The snow 
falls on the ground. It is shoveled by men and boys. 
Snow is very cold and white," etc. 

The writer does not think that these four types 
form the best language center for a drill on the neces- 
sary language facts. They are used for illustration 
because they are assigned in many courses of study 
and they serve to show that the elementary language 
lessons can be freed from cumbrous terminology, 
and yet be made the .means of teaching the child the 
structure of the sentence, the function of its parts, 
the plural form.s, the agreement between subject and 
predicate, the agreement between pronoun and ante- 
cedent, the use of auxiliary verbs, the correct form 

30 



FORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

of the negative statement. These four types of sen- 
tences may also be made the means of developing 
richer and more flexible vocabularies. The school 
where most of the children are of foreign birth can 
well afford, therefore, to spend two years on these 
formal drills. 

The Systematic Correction of Common Errors of Spcecli. 
— When Necessary. — There are tw^o methods of 
teaching children the necessary language facts and 
instilling in them habits of correct form in elementary 
language structures. The first is by the method just 
outlined — by a systematic, graded, positive series of 
drills on language forms. The second method is the 
negative which teaches only those language forms 
that children habitually misuse. The first is the 
method of prevention; the second the method of cure. 
Courses of study in cosmopolitan cities prescribe the 
systematic correction of typical errors of speech for 
all grades beginning with the second or the third year. 

Limitations in the Prevailing Method of Dealing 
with Common Errors of Speech. — What is the usual 
method which teachers follow in their attempt to rid 
the speech of their pupils of the typical mistakes? 
Very often a teacher culls all the common language 
errors which experience has taught her abound in 
children's speech. These are taken up, one by one, 
corrected arbitrarily, drilled on in appropriate exer- 
cises and dismissed for a second common error which 
is similarly treated in the next language drill. One 
day the lesson is on "seen and saw," a second on 
"done and did," a third on "haven't no," a fourth 

31 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

on ''brang and brung," until every error on the list 
has been dignified by a separate period. Very often, 
the lesson ends with an arbitrary generalization of the 
type, ''Seen can be used only with have or hasf' 

What is the usual result of such pedagogical prac- 
tice? In each grade the entire list of common errors 
is corrected but in each succeeding grade the very 
same errors are again studied with the same futile 
result. There are two reasons which account for this 
waste. The first reason is lack of drill. We need a 
sledge-hammer blow; the common method of dealing 
with these errors of speech makes them all pass before 
the class in a happy merry-go-round while we ap- 
ply the feather duster to each. These incorrect forms 
are habits; the problem confronting us is how to break 
an old habit and inculcate a new one. Hard unre- 
lenting drill, untiring repetition, are the price of habit 
formation. The prevailing method described above 
surely fails to pay the price. Secondly, the lessons 
are too formal. The drills are not natural enough, 
nor are the correct forms learned through natural 
context in the course of natural expression. 

A Method of Dealing zvith Common Errors of 
Speech. — What mode of teaching can we suggest in 
dealing with common inaccuracies of speech? The 
following procedure ofifers a more rational and natural 
form of exercise and also provides sufficient drill. All 
the common errors found in children's oral speech and 
written work should be listed and arranged in a graded 
series by the supervisor. Such a tabulation would give 
about thirty to thirty-six common forms that children 

32 



FORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

constantly misuse. Each grade, beginning with the 
second year, should have a definite number of these 
errors assigned, three or four in the lower grades, five 
or six, in addition to a review of those already studied, 
in the higher grades. With responsibility limited to 
five or six forms, each teacher could give such drill 
and application as would permanently undermine these 
common errors. Let us assume that the teacher 
of a third-year class must undermine, (i) "it is 
me," (2) double negative, (3) "I seen it," (4) 
"I done it," and (5) "I brang my lunch." The 
first error is selected for study and drill. The teacher 
puts on the board or better still on a long cardboard 
the following model sentence : ''It is I who am knock- 
ing," said Little Red Riding Hood. Then comes 
the following drill: 

Teacher: "What was Little Red Riding Hood 
asked?" 

Pupil: "Who is knocking?" 

Teacher: "What did she reply?" 

Pupil: "It is me." 

Teacher: "Look at the blackboard." The child 
who made the mistake is given a chance to correct his 
answer. 

Teacher: "William, who spoke when " 

Pupil: "It was me." 

Teacher: "Answer as Red Riding Hood would." 

Pupil: "It was I who spoke," etc. 

The type sentence is kept in full view of the class 
for a week or two, depending upon the gravity of the 
error and the frequency of misuse of the correct 

33 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

form. It becomes the basis of short daily drills of 
two or three minutes in the morning and again in the 
afternoon. Other model sentences of the same gram- 
matical construction are presented and the drills are 
continued. The initial sentence seems to become part 
of the children for it is a permanent standard for 
reference in the future. At any time when the child 
gives the objective "me'^ for the nominative "I/' 
the teacher simply refers to the standard sentence by 
asking, "What did Little Red Riding Hood say? 
Now correct your own sentence." 

In the same way, this series of drill lessons is fol- 
lowed by, " T am not afraid ; I have no fear,' said the 
brave Columbus." This becomes the standard or type 
sentence for a series of questions in which the child 
is asked, "Have you money?" "Have you paper and 
pencil?" "Has he courage?" etc. In each case the 
teacher requires the two forms of expressing the 
negative. The child may reply, "I have no fear" or 
"I haven't any fear," but he is led to avoid, "I haven't 
no fear." These daily drills are again continued for 
about a fortnight, when the correct form of the nega- 
tive becomes part of the child's expressional stock. 
When, in the future, a pupil tells his teacher, "I haven't 
no pencil," he is promptly told to recall the type sen- 
tence about Columbus and model his answer accord- 
ingly. In such a method of organization and proce- 
dure the necessary continued and persistent drill can be 
given to each error, and natural context is used to 
make permanent the correct form. Each teacher can 
now be held responsible because the assignments are 

34 



FORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

definite for each grade. Through such a method the 
flagrant errors of common speech can be eradicated 
by the time the child completes his fifth year in the 
elementary course, and teachers in the last three years 
would then be spared the discouraging task of re- 
peating the unsuccessful work of so many lower 
grades in addition to teaching the advanced language 
lessons which presuppose a foundation of elementary 
knowledge. 

Development of Efficiency in Early Language Work Is 
Slow and Difficult. — Throughout the slow, tedious and 
persistent drills that characterize the language les- 
sons of the early grades, the teacher must not become 
discouraged. Experience alone can impress the 
teacher with the slowness and the difficulty of de- 
veloping efficiency in oral expression among chil- 
dren. The teacher inexperienced in this phase of ele- 
mentary instruction loses heart at the slow rate of 
progress in the linguistic development of her pupils. 
But this slow maturing efficiency in language is to 
be expected when we consider the many causes that 
are operative in producing it. We must now turn to 
them. 

I. EfUciency in Oral Expression Is Usually Spe- 
cial , not General. — People often speak fluently and 
coherently on one subject but are exceedingly poor 
in conversational powers on other topics. The pro- 
verbial example of the professor who is an interesting 
speaker in his specialty but a bore in other fields of 
human interest, illustrates this phenomenon. There 
are students who are exceedingly intelligent in dis- 

35 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

cussing athletic topics but who are inane when they 
participate in general class discussions. Children who 
are alert and winning in speech during play may 
show a decided lack of linguistic ability in formal 
classroom recitation. 

2. Efficiency of Speech Is Often a Native Endow- 
ment. — ^Linguistic ability is with many children a 
birth gift. This explains why so many people are 
delightful speakers on any topic and can spin a clever 
verbal thread around any idea. We listen to them 
with rapt attention, giving ourselves to their every 
word, only to find in the end that they have con- 
tributed nothing of value. 

3. Oral Speech Is Usually Developed as Need Is 
Felt. — The individual who lives a life of social con- 
tact that prompts expression soon finds that the abil- 
ity to express himself grows in proportion to need 
and use. Country children are hence more retiring 
and less communicative than their talkative and impul- 
sive city cousins. 

4. The School May Repress Linguistic Develop- 
ment. — The school with its organization and disci- 
pline, recognizing not the individual but the group, is 
usually repressive. Free and spontaneous speech is 
not allowed ; the child as a member of a class has not 
the opportunity to express himself as often as he 
ought to, and finally the systematic recitation kills 
voluntary speech-, for the child must express the book 
or the teacher rather than himself. 

Lessons for the School. — This analysis of the 
causes of slow and labored development of efficiency 

36 



FORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

in oral expression has its lessons for the school, (a) 
It shows us clearly that every study must be a lan- 
guage lesson. Correct speech cannot be habituated 
unless we make this concession to the place of Eng- 
lish in the curriculum, (b) Wherever possible, chil- 
dren should be encouraged to talk freely in the course 
of the recitation. Topics assigned to a pupil should be 
broad and should call for expression in a number of 
sentences. The recitation that is made up of a series 
of close-fitting petty questions, whose answers require 
the mere ejaculation of a word or a phrase, is a 
means of repressing speech and retarding linguistic 
progress. The topical method, rather than the petty 
question method of the recitation, should be follov/ed 
wherever convenient and practical, (c) Overcon- 
scientious and painfully accurate teachers must re- 
member that it is not advisable to curb the child's 
flow of speech by minute corrections. Let the child 
have his say, let him speak his mind, then offer the 
corrections, the changes, and the modifications that 
are necessary. There is no reason why the child 
should always be interrupted with such petty sug- 
gestions as, "Answer in a full sentence." This sacred 
regard for the "full sentence" produces artificiality 
and stiltedness of speech characteristic of classroom 
recitations. Adults do not always speak in complete 
sentences; what justification have we for imposing 
this standard on pupils? (d) Finally, teachers 
should always encourage fluent and coherent speech 
among children. If we are to seek the larger values 
in our work, petty facts must be sacrificed for proper 

37 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

form. When a child formulates his answer in well- 
rounded, sequential sentences, it must be received with 
words of praise and held up to the others in his 
class as an enviable model worthy of their imita- 
tion. 

WRITTEN WORK IN THE PRIMARY GRADES 

Its Minor Position. — In the early years written com- 
position can be accorded, at best, a subordinate place 
when compared to the varied forms of oral exer- 
cise. Too early an insistence on written composition 
works irreparable harm. The child loses in expres- 
sional power, for when the difficulties of penmanship, 
form, spelling, capitalization and punctuation con- 
front him, all expression is at once killed. We must 
wait until the elementary requirements in spelling, 
capitalization, penmanship, etc., have become habitu-^ 
ated before written work is begun. Written compo- 
sition in the first three years is hence almost neg- 
ligible, for the child is then acquiring technical 
and formal habits in language. It is in the 
fourth year that the written work assumes any seri- 
ousness of form and content, for now written com- 
positions of two paragraphs should be attempted. 
The methods to be suggested are very much like 
those that we shall study for the upper grades with, 
however, such modifications as common-sense and 
practical experience would dictate. Thus, for ex- 
ample, in the primary classes the child follows the 
model more faithfully, imitation is more slavish, the 

38 



FORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

"preparatory oral drill deals with a greater number 
of details of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, etc., 
and the models are imitated for their very form as 
well as for their spirit. 

The Transition from Oral to Written Composition. — 
It is well, however, to note how the first written com- 
position is to be introduced, how the transition is to 
be made so that whatever efficiency the child has 
acquired in oral expression can be transferred to. the 
written exercises. It must be remembered that abil- 
ity in oral expression is no guarantee of equal ef- 
ficiency in written expression. Graphic expression 
differs psychologically as well as physiologically from 
oral expression. This is why children efficient in 
oral composition find that all ideas seem to disap- 
pear instantaneously when they are confronted with 
pen and paper. How shall we aid them in their dif- 
ficulty ? 

Let the teacher assign the topic, "Yesterday's Fire 
Drill," and put it on the blackboard. The children 
are now told that they are to write a composition 
on it, hence they copy the title on their papers. The 
teacher then puts on the board the first question, the 
answer of which will be the first sentence of their 
composition. The questions are so worded that they 
contain the words and phrases necessary in the for- 
mulation of the answer. After the answer is elicited 
orally the children write it on their papers. The 
following form may be used both for the blackboard 
work of the teacher and the children's exercise on 
paper : 

39 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Teacher s Blackboard Children's Answers on 
Questions Paper 

I. Did we have a fire i. We had a fire drill 

drill yesterday? 2. Did yesterday. 2. The four 

the four bells ring out bells rang out loud and 

loud and clear? 3. Did clear. 3. We did not 

you know whether there know whether there was 

was a fire or not? 4. a fire or not. 4. The 

Were the children quiet children were quiet and 

and quick? 5. Was the quick. 5. The teacher 

teacher pleased with the was pleased with the 

drill? drill. 

The answers written by the children are only tran- 
scripts of the words used by the teacher. Neverthe- 
less, when taken together, they show good sequence 
and make up a well-organized paragraph. This 
method is pursued until some confidence is developed 
and transitional difficulties are in a measure overcome. 
After that, the model is presented and studied, tran- 
scribed or imitated as the case may require, but the 
general method will be only a modification of the pro- 
cedure to be suggested for the grammar grades. 

SUGGESTED READING 

Arnold, F. Special Methods of Instruction, pp. 203- 
224. S. Mandel, 27 St. Nicholas Place, N. Y. 

Blount and Northup. Language Lessons. Henry 
Holt & Co. 

40 



FORMAL COMPOSITION: FIRST FOUR YEARS 

Carpenter, Baker and Scott. The Teaching of 
English, pp. 121-144. 

Chubb, P. The Teaching of English, chaps. Ill and 
IV. The Macmillan Co. 

CooLEY^ Alice W. Language Teaching in the Grades, 
especially chap. III. Houghton-Mifflin Co. 

Hosic, James F. The Elementary School Course in 
English, pp. 11-26; pp. 57-96. University of Chi- 
cago Press. 

Klapper, Paul. Teaching Children to Read, chap. 
VII, Parts B, C. D. Appleton & Co.' 

0'Shea_, M. V. Linguistic Development and Educa- 
tion, chaps. I, II, VI, X, XI, XII. The Macmillan 
Co. 

. Elementary School Curriculum, First Year, 

Teachers' College Record, Jan., 1906. 



CHAPTER IV 

COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 
THE SELECTION OF A PROPER SUBJECT 

The Method-whole in Composition. — Careful and thor- 
ough treatment of a composition lesson necessitates 
three periods that are distinct in aim and procedure. 
Briefly we may characterize these as follows: (i) 
the period of oral preparation in which the science 
of composition is taught — this is the oral teaching 
period in which the teacher leads and the child is 
learning the laws of language; (2) the period of 
written composition in which the child is given every 
opportunity to express himself and acquire the art of 
composition, and (3) the period of correction, the aim 
and scope of which are apparent. 

These three periods are usually given on three sep- 
arate days but any two of these may follow on the 
same day as the exigencies of special circumstances 
and classes may demand. The teacher seeking con- 
structive programs of work need hardly be reminded 
that no method has universal application in to to. 
Some parts must be omitted, others modified, and new 
devices introduced to adjust any method to the spe- 
cific problems of a particular class. But every meth- 

42 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

od that merits pedagogical approval is based on 
sound principle and worthy aim. In applying a 
method, the teacher must be sure that despite the 
changes and the additions that are made, the justi- 
fying principle has been retained. Any method that 
is not subjected to personal scrutiny, to modification 
in an attempt to adjust it to specific needs, becomes 
a pedagogical strait- jacket and inevitably leads to 
failure. 

The Preparatory Period. — The method of teaching 
composition in the grammar grades is determined 
by the same considerations as those which govern 
the method in the primary grades, viz., the basic dif- 
ficulties that confront the children. We must stop, 
therefore, to note the problems that make composi- 
tion teaching a difiicult task for the teacher. In the 
main we may group these under three heads: 

I. Lack of Material Worth Expressing. — At first 
thought this difficulty seems slight and only of pass- 
ing importance, but a moment's consideration brings 
conviction to the contrary. College students when 
asked to select their own topics for debates, essays, 
and the like, experience a feeling of hopelessness a;:- 
they take mental stock. They have many ideas, the}" 
have studied many subjects, but none of them seems 
big and urgent, and worthy of expression. If this 
is true of students who have attained some degree of 
maturity and whose minds have been subjected to the 
broadening influence of study, how true is it of the 
child with immature mind and narrow personal as- 
pect of the world. 

43 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 



^ 2. Lack of Organisation of Ideas. — Children do 
not feel the need for sequence and systematization 
of facts. They ramble through their subject in aim- 
less, discursive style ; they do not know that "to com- 
pose" one must systematize his ideas before giving 
expression to them. 

3. Limitations of Speech. — Having met the first 
two difficulties, we are confronted by the third — ex- 
pressional deficiencies. These may be summed up 
under (a) involved and confused forms of expres- 
sion, (b) incorrect forms of speech, and (c) limita- 
tions in variety and extensiveness of vocabulary. In 
developing the method of teaching composition in 
the grammar grades we shall follow the sequence in 
which these difficulties are stated. We turn then 
to the main problem of the present chapter. 

THE SELECTION OF THE SUBJECT 

The Sourcjes of Subject-matter. — Every child has two 
rich sources of subject-matter for expression; two 
great reservoirs which can be tapped for material for 
compositions. These we may term the direct source 
and the indirect source. 

The Direct Source. — The direct source sums up 
all composition material that can be obtained from 
the child's fund of experience, from his creative im- 
agination, and from the host of incidents and stories 
that were heard or read. The mere fact that the 
child is normal and has lived his short life in an ac- 
tive society, guarantees a response from this per- 
sonal source. The responses which can thus be elic- 

44 



1 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

ited from the children are limited only by the in- 
genuity and the sympathy of the teacher. 

Concrete illustrations are more suggestive and con- 
vincing to the teacher whose composition work does 
not progress because of the limited number of ap- 
propriate subjects. Let us turn to a few. What a 
host of possibilities do we actualize when we ask the 
child to begin its composition with, "The match that 
was dropped on the floor of the barn was not lost 

because " Children in a sixth-year class suggested 

the following developments in their compositions. 
These are given in a summarized form. 

Child A: A tramp in search of shelter steals into 
the barn. He accidentally steps on the match and 
sets fire to the structure. The peril of the tramp; 
the rescue. The tramp turns out to be the long lost 
and wayward son of the owner. Reconciliation and 
reform. 

Child B : A rainy and dismal day. The children of 
the owner at play in the barn. The match stepped 
on. The spluttering not heard in the general noise 
of the game. The fire. The rescue by the arch en- 
emy of the boy at play in the barn. The reward of 
the rescuer; friendship renewed. 

Child C: A rat in the barn. The fire. Total de- 
struction of the barn with its stock of the owner's 
wealth. Poverty of the farmer. Moral of the tale. 

The conceptions of these three children are given 
to illustrate the many possibilities suggested by such 
an appeal to productive imagination. Similar top- 
ics can readily be invented by the sympathetic 

45 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

and resourceful teacher, who can enter into the spirit 
that must pervade the composition lesson. In a fifth- 
year class, the topic, "What I Found Under a Stone," 
was assigned for plot invention, preparatory to the 
writing of the composition. Through questions and 
suggestions the teacher stirred the children's memo- 
ries of such incidents and experiences as would 
readily lend themselves to the building of a new situ- 
ation suited to the given topic. The richness and di- 
versity of the results may be seen from the fol- 
lowing plots evolved, in the main, by the children: 

Plot i 

The stone lifted. The opening of a cave. The cave en- 
tered. The home of a robber band. Death threats. Joins 
robber band. Gains their confidence. Leads an expedition. 
Leads robber to capture. 

Plot 2 

Cave, robbers, death threats, as in first plot. Pleading by 
a masked member of the band. Life spared. Escape with 
this unknown friend. Recognition — lost and wayward friend. 
Reformation. 

Plot 3 

Stone lifted. Bag of money found. Seek owners. None 
found. Money divided with friend. Story of the life of evil 
and ruin of the one and the life of social service and happi- 
ness of the other. 

Plot 4 

An inventor, unsuccessful and discouraged, walks in the 
woods. Sits on the stone to rest. Stone moves and he lifts 
it. Finds a motto, "Perseverance brings success." Curiosity 

46 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

as to meaning. Search for meaning. A message of hope 
for him. Perseverance and final success. 

Excellent results are obtained by appealing to this 
direct source by such a model as ^'Der kleine 
Johannes/' given in Maxwell and Johnson's "School 
Composition." It is reproduced for the convenience 
of the reader. 

Little Johannes 

It was warm by the pond, and still as death. The sun, 
flushed and tired from its day's work, seemed to be resting 
for a moment on the top of the distant ridge of dunes be- 
fore diving below. Almost perfectly the smooth water re- 
flected its glowing face. The overhanging leaves of the 
beech took advantage of the stillness to gaze intently at 
themselves in the mirror. The solitary heron, who was 
standing on one foot between the broad leaves of the water- 
lilies, forgot that he had gone out to catch frogs, and stared 
in front of him, lost in thought. 

Then Johannes came to the little grass-plot to see the 
cloud grotto. Plump ! plump ! the frogs sprang from the 
shore. The mirror broke into ripples, the sun picture sepa- 
rated into broad stripes, and the beech leaves rustled crossly, 
for they had not looked at themselves sufficiently. 

Fast bound to the naked roots of the beech lay a little old 
boat. Johannes had been strictly forbidden to get into it. 
Oh, how strong the temptation was this evening ! Already 
the clouds were forming themselves into an awful gateway, 
behind which the sun would go to rest. Glittering little 
clouds ranged themselves in lines at the sides, like a body- 
guard in golden armor. The surface of the v/ater glowed 
also, and red sparks flew like arrows through the reeds. 

Slowly Johannes unfastened the cord of the boat from 
the beech roots. To float there in the midst of that splen- 
dor ! Presto, the dog had already sprung into the boat, and, 

47 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

before his master had made up his mind, the reeds bent and 
pushed them both forward in the direction of the setting sun. 
(Translated from the Dutch of "Der kleine Johannes," 
by Frederik van Eeden.) 

The children study the model until they see the 
grandeur of the picture; then they are required to 
complete the story as their fancies see it. The range 
of dramatic possibilities varies with the age, the grade, 
and the native abilities of the pupils. A few of many 
good results are given. 

Martin S., aged twelve, in a sixth-year class, sug- 
gested that a sudden storm which came, *'soon broke 
the mirror with angry waves that rocked the boat 
to and fro." Der kleine Johannes now became fright- 
ened and clung to the floor of the boat for safety. 
"As darkness fell the rocking boat put Johannes to 
sleep." In the fury of the storm that followed the 
boat capsized and the unfortunate lad "never awoke 
to realize that he too *had set off in the direction of 
the setting sun.' " This little drama, charming and 
tender in its conception, bespeaks an emotional refine- 
ment not usual in the impulsive and ruthless lad of 
twelve. 

Such a model opens up a vista of possibilities which 
make it appropriate for almost any grammar grade, 
as is proved by the following two products written by 
children in the last year of the school course. The com- 
positions as given are accurate reproductions of the 
children's results except for the correction of a few 
minor errors, which they themselves corrected when 
the compositions were returned to them. 

48 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

Little Johannes 

Par. I. Introduction. 

a. Time. 

b. Place. 
Par. II. Little Johannes. 

a. His longing. 

b. His dream. 
Par. III. Home again. 

It was a warm, sultry day in summer. The lake lay with- 
out a ripple on its face. Above, the silver birch stood ma- 
jestically reflecting its leaves and form. Somewhat off from 
this stood a lone heron solemnly standing on one foot like 
a sentinel gazing at its own reflection in the lake, forgetting 
that it had come down to the lake to catch frogs. 

All of a sudden this tranquillity was broken by a litle boy 
making his, entrance upon the scene. The birch rustled its 
leaves in disapproval as some of the frogs having been 
scared jumped into the water and wrinkled the surface. This 
little boy's name was Johannes. He owned a little boat 
which was moored to the shore. He was strictly forbidden 
to go out in this boat. The little boy had a strong tempta- 
tion to take just one ride. But he overcame his temptation 
and sat admiring the old boat, for he had had much fun in 
it. Night was coming and the little boy finally saw a great 
many little frog-men dancing around his feet. Then some 
of the elder ones took him by the hand and took him 
through a wonderful land. This land was all illuminated 
with colored crystal-like lights. This was the festival of 
the frogs; there were some who had the greenest dresses 
on, with big brown spots on them, and others with brown 
dresses with white underneath the throat. In one part of 
this great land there were tables set and great dishes of 
good things to eat. In another there were frogs dancing 
and singing in frog language, but the little boy understood 
them, for the fairy frog had put him under a spell. Finally 

49 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

the frogs started to eat and when they had finished they 
started to depart. Johannes could not go, for he did not 
know the way. When the last one had departed he heard 
a great noise and clamor and looking around he saw that 
everything was dark, and that his father and a number of 
men were standing around. He had been asleep and his 
father had been out hunting for him with a number of other 
men until he found him. His father took him in his arms 
and carried him home, where he told of his adventure. 

Johannes' Adventure 

It was near the close of a sultry day in summer. The sun, 
tired from its day's hard work, seemed to say "Good night" 
to the world before it was wrapped up in the darkness of 
the coming night. The frogs seemed to have stopped their 
din, as if in awe of the setting sun. Little Johannes thought 
it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen as he came 
tripping lightly down the path. At the sound of his feet 
the frogs seemed to awaken from their trance and one after 
another their plump ! plump ! showed they had retreated into 
the forest of water-lilies. 

Tied to a tree was a small boat, which was the property 
of our hero's father. Little Johannes thought that his mother 
would like to have some lilies. But really he only wanted 
an excuse to go out in the boat. He set the boat adrift. 
After half the distance had been covered little Johannes sat 
back on the seat and fell asleep. 

He awoke with a start, for he had heard his name called. 
He listened for some moments to make sure that he was not 
mistaken. 

"Johannes !" said a soft voice behind him. He turned and 
saw before him a beautiful girl. 

"What do you want and who are you?" asked Johannes, 
rubbing his eyes to make sure he was awake. 

"I am the Queen of the Lily-pads," said she, "and I have 

50 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

come to warn you that if you disobey your father again and 
come out in your boat after dark, the Frog King will surely 
catch you and he is a very bad man." 

"All right, your majesty," answered little Johannes, "I'll 
go right home and never go out again, if that nasty old 
King will let me alone this time." 

"Oh, there you are," said a voice, and little Johannes 
awoke and stared around him, thinking that it was the 
Frog King who had come to get him, but it was only his 
father. While he slept the boat had drifted ashore and the 
little lad's father had found him, after a long, exhausting 
search. 

The Indirect Source. — The second, the indirect 
source, sums up all the knowledge the child has, or 
can obtain from class teaching, textbooks, encyclo- 
pedias, and magazines. Whenever we appeal to the in- 
direct source we have composition through correla- 
tion. In history, the children write on "The Battle 
of Bunker Hill," *The Voyages of Columbus," 
or "Daniel Webster." In geography the topic selected 
may be, "The People of China," "Notes of a Trav- 
eler," "Pictures of Places I Visited," etc. — in a word, 
the host of topics to which mentally lazy teachers have 
recourse. 

The Danger in the Indirect Source: Overcorr ela- 
tion, — ^There is great danger in resorting to the im- 
personal source for subject-matter. The composi- 
tion lesson is usually regarded by many teachers as 
a period in which we can elaborate and "fill out" what 
was neglected in geography, history, or nature study. 
We must never forget that the primary object of a 
composition lesson is expression and not the mas- 

51 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

tery of information, however important. The most 
pleasing element in any pupil's composition is its 
spirit of originality, of spontaneity, and freedom. 
Composition cannot show these characteristics if it 
is a mere repetition of the formal lessons in which 
the child learns to express the textbook or the teacher, 
but not himself. Injudicious correlation saps life 
and virility from all composition exercises. 

The Test of Good Correlation in Composition. — 
In all correlation in composition the child should be 
encouraged to introduce his own individuality into 
the narrative. He should write his story from his 
own point of view, as if he really had lived through 
it. The autobiographical element often makes cor- 
relation helpful and suggestive. Therefore, the topic, 
"Columbus," becomes "The Conspiracy to Throw Me 
Overboard — Extract from the Autobiography of 
Christopher Columbus"; a cold recital of facts in a 
composition on "Lewis and Clark" takes on a glow of 
life when the topic becomes "A Page from My Diary 
Kept During the Lewis and Clark Expedition" ; when 
the topic is merely "Bunker Hill" we get from the 
children a mere enumeration of events such as can 
be found in any history ; but when the topic is changed 
to "Watching the Battle as an Aide to General War- 
ren," the composition thrills with real excitement. 
The dispirited narrative when the composition is on 
"Arnold's Treason" becomes fascinating correspon- 
dence when it is turned into "The Letters Exchanged 
between Arnold and Andre." In this lesson one child 
impersonates Arnold and makes the offer of betrayal, 

52 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

and another is Andre who writes his acceptance and 
the details of the meeting. 

The following composition is a good example of 
the kind of correlation that we must seek in compo- 
sition : 

Rosewood Cottage, 

Fredericktown, Maryland, 
September 23, 1863. 
My Dear Joe: 

No doubt you have read in the newspapers the heroic deed 
performed in this town. It no doubt has been the chief 
subject of conversation throughout the country. Of course 
some versions are greatly exaggerated, but the honor that 
has been given to that noble old woman she fully deserves. 
As I was an interested spectator and saw the occurrence 
from beginning to end, I shall briefly relate to you every 
detail as it truly happened. 

I had been stopping for a few weeks at the home of my 
aunt in Fredericktown, a pleasant little village in the state 
of Maryland. One cool September morn I was leaving the 
house for one of my daily walks when I heard the steady 
tramp of marching feet. Turning, I beheld as far as the eye 
could see, soldiers in the gray uniform of the Confederate 
Army, General ''Stonewall" Jackson at their head. We were 
expecting them, and earlier in the day every Union flag had 
been withdrawn, notwithstanding the protests of the North- 
ern citizens. As the Southern army approached the house 
of Barbara Frietchie I saw her withdraw her head from the 
window, immediately to reappear with a large American flag, 
whose staff she placed in the window-sill. The flag slowly 
unfurled itself and proudly began to wave in the brisk morn- 
ing breeze. As General Jackson went marching by, glancing 
from right to left, his quick eye soon noted the waving flag. 
"Halt !" he cried, and his troops stood fast. "Fire !" Out 
blazed the rifles. They shivered the sash and window-pane 

53 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

and rent the flag. As it fell from the shattered staff Bar- 
bara Frietchie snatched it, and, leaning far out of the win- 
dow, waved it excitedly to and fro, while she exclaimed, 
"Strike, if you must, this old gray head, but spare your 
country's flag instead." The now excited throng raised a 
frenzied and mighty shout as it saw this aged and defense- 
Tess woman, the oldest inhabitant of the town, alone defend- 
ing her country's flag. A shade of sadness and shame stole 
o'er the General's face, and he bowed his head upon his 
breast. Suddenly he lifted his head and, "Who touches a 
hair of yon gray head, dies like a dog. March on !" he said. 
All day long sounded the feet of the marching army. And 
all day long that free flag waved grandly o'er the heads of 
the Southern host. 

Hoping this somewhat lengthy narrative will interest you, 
I remain Your true friend, 

Harry S. 

In contrast to the above, let us see the following 
example of correlation, suggested as a model by the 
principal of one of our city schools: 

London, England, 
June 2, 1905. 
Dear William : 

I reached London at ten o'clock Monday morning and the 
first thing I went to see was Westminster Abbey, a very 
large church which is one of the largest in the world. 

It was built by King Edward the Confessor in 1065 and the 
first great service was held in the Abbey Christmas Day of 
that year. A few weeks later King Edward took sick from 
old age and died and was buried there. 

The Abbey is built in the form of a Latin cross and in 
the south transcript is the Poets' Corner, where there is a 
bust of Longfellow, a tablet to Shakespeare and a memo- 
randum window to Lowell. King Henry added another 

54 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

chapel, in which there is the tomb of Queen Elizabeth, and 
the choir is as large as a good-sized church. 

Your friend. 



This composition is a stupid reproduction from the 
^'Encyclopedia of Persons and Places"; the compo- 
sition is dead and was written because it was an as- 
signed task. The errors of speech, of grouping, and 
of facts which occur would not have been made if the 
child understood and felt what he was writing. All 
this is justified in the name of correlation for the 
principal's conference notes add : "The children are 
benefited not merely in the line of letter writing, 
but their language is improved and they gain valu- 
able, curious, and interesting bits of information con- 
cerning different countries of the world, old and 



new." 



What Is a Good Subject for Compositionf — ^We 
can best sum up our inquiry concerning the choice 
of a subject for composition by noting the salient char- 
acteristic of a good "composition subject." The dif- 
ference between a "good" subject and a "bad" one 
is the difference between "having something to say" 
and "having to say something." When the child is 
told to write on Westminster Abbey, he has to say 
something. All inspiration, all ideas that may be lurk- 
ing in the mind are at once dispelled. When the 
child is writing because he has something to say, 
success is guaranteed because the subject of the en- 
tire composition is really "I." In the teaching of ele- 
mentary composition a good subject allows the per- 

55 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

sonal pronoun of the first person to be the real if not 
the nominal subject. 

In the light of this standard, how stupid and inane 
are the following models, offered by principals to 
teachers to be imposed on the children. They have 
all been gathered in the last three years from con- 
ference notes and direct "Orders to Teachers." 

The East River Bridges 

There are four great bridges connecting the boroughs of 
Manhattan and Brooklyn. Each of them is more than a 
mile in length. You can walk across them, or you can go 
over them in a car or a carriage. 

From these bridges you can see steamers with their tall 
pipes and masts passing up and down the East River. Ferry- 
boats, too, are seen going back and forth between the two 
boroughs. 

The ferryboats used to be the only means of crossing 
from Brooklyn to New York. Now the bridges make it 
easier for the people to go from one borough to the other. 

Coal 

Hundreds and hundreds of years ago there were great 
forests. In these forests there were no insects ; nothing was 
there but large trees. These trees sank into the earth and 
have become coal. 

Men go down into the earth in small elevators to get the 
coal. These men are called miners. They have little lamps 
on their hats. It is very dark and dangerous down in the 
mines. 

Many years ago children worked in the mines. 

There are a great many halls in the mines. Coal is very 
opaque and it is shiny and very brittle. 

56 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

The Earthworm 

The earthworm's body is made up of many segments. He 
has no bones. Fowls and birds eat him. 

He needs no eyes because he lives in the dark earth. He 
destroys the roots of plants by eating them. 

When he dies his body mixes with the soil and makes it 
richer. 

Kindness 

I should always treat others kindly. I should be especially 
kind to all the members of my own family. 

I should be kind to all with whom I have anything to do, 
even if they are not such children as I would choose for 
companions. 

If I have pets, I should be very kind to them. 

How far superior are the following, personal ex- 
pressions of the children! 

The Sciences 

Though I have read few books on science, I have noticed 
that, with but one exception, they merely gave the facts. 
For this reason I had almost formed an opinion that science 
was interesting, but that books on that subject were dry. 

But when I came in contact with a certain book that opin- 
ion vanished into thin air. The cause of this sudden revolu- 
tion of ideas was a book with the dull title — "The Sciences." 
Edward S. Holden is the author of it. Perhaps I liked the 
book because the topics were explained in nothing more nor 
less than a conversation. The illustrations, too, were the 
best I have ever seen. The experiment was always ex- 
plained underneath the diagram. 

I do not know why I grasp the facts better in reading 

57 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

conversation than facts. Maybe because the one, being 
more interesting, engages my attention more. Before read- 
ing the book I knew nothing of electricity. Now I know a 
little at least. The book did not take up much about elec- 
tricity or I would have learned more. My only unfavorable 
criticism is that the children knew too much and spoke too 
well for their age. For instance, a girl of nine is not likely 
to know much about diving bells, planets, etc. But on the 
whole the book is excellent. 

"Cherry Ripe" 

"Cherry Ripe" is a little girl sitting on a huge boulder, 
with her little toes turned in and her little hands clasped. 
Beside her on the boulder, on a large leaf, are a number of 
ripe cherries. "Cherry Ripe" must be a very old picture, for 
her dress, shoes, gloves and hat are of the fashion of years 
gone by. 

Around her neck is a scarf which looks like a bertha. 
Around her waist is the wide girdle. The long, full skirt 
comes to her ankles, out of which her little feet just peep. 
Her gloves come halfway up her arm. 

Above her the May blossom and wistaria are twining and 
form an arch. Below her the lilies and tall grass come up 
and form a frame, but I think that the artist of this picture 
intended that she should be the sweetest and prettiest flower 
of them all. 

It is evident, therefore, that a subject, per se, is 
neither good nor bad. The point of view and the 
interpretation of it always determine its value in ele- 
mentary classes. The topic, "The Snowfall," gives 
a stupid and lifeless composition if the children are 
required to treat it in the following topics: In what 
season does it come? What temperature is neces- 

58 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

sary? Its relation to rain? What forms may the 
flakes take ? What are the uses of snow in preserving 
plant life? etc. What is here offered the child is an 
adult's composition on snow, written from a scientific 
point of view with a serious aim. This is what snow 
may be to the teacher but it is not what snow is to 
the child. To him, it has no scientific cause, it jus- 
tifies itself merely by the fact that it adds to his joy. 
How truly a boy's composition on snow is the follow- 
ing! 

A Winter Day 

"I'll bet you that we will have some snow this week," my 
friend had declared the day before the snowfall, and all of 
us agreed with him, for the wind was cold and biting and 
the clouds low and dark. 

The next morning when I awoke I instantly saw that my 
friend had been right. The windows were frosted and the 
streets spotless white, as traffic had not yet begun. The ad- 
joining roofs looked as if they had been covered with a huge 
sheet, while in the park every twig- and branch was clothed 
in its winter garments. The street was as quiet as a grave- 
yard, except for an occasional rattle of a truck as it rolled 
over the frozen pavement. 

After eating breakfast and taking as few books as pos- 
sible, I started off for school and met a number of my 
friends. "Hello, Willie," I cried to one of them, "how do 
you like the" — when, biff! came a snowball, which found 
lodgment in my ear. "Say, Is, how do you like the" — came 
derisively from Willie, while several boys laughed heartily 
at my misfortune. Then began a battle, which soon ended, 
as time was flying and we did not care to be late. 

After school we met in our clubroom, and together we 
went to some building lots, where the snow was undisturbed, 
and began building a fort, for which we were to have a 

59 



, THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

battle. When the fort was completed we chose sides, and 
I was put on the force which was to capture the fort. As 
I am not an accurate thrower, I was given the position of 
supplying snowballs. We soon overpowered the enemy and 
with a loud cheer took possession. We kept on playing until 
dark and then went home, hoping that there would be a bliz- 
zard during the night, which would insure some fun on the 
morrow. 

The practical teacher may admit the possibilities of 
these results with classes in the upper part of the 
school course, but may insist that in the lower grades 
the expressions must be more or less formal and 
the content must possess a simplicity that seems insipid 
to the adult mind. It Is evidently such lack of confi- 
dence In the Imaginative products of children that 
prompted a principal of an elementary school to sug- 
gest the following models for fourth-year classes : 

My Doll 

My doll is a toy. It looks like a baby girl. Its head is 
made of china; its arms and legs are of plaster. The body 
of the doll is sawdust and rags. It has glass eyes that turn 
down when the doll is put to sleep. 

The Trolley Car 

The trolley car is a combined wagon and big machine. It 
moves by electric power. The motorman makes it go by 
turning a handle. The trolley car can draw heavy loads. 
It travels on wheels ; these wheels turn on tracks. The ma- 
chinery is under the car. 

60 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

Principals and teachers possessed of sympathetic in- 
sight see at once that to the child the doll is more than 
a composite of china, clay, glass and sawdust. It is a 
living object upon which are spent all the emotions of 
latent motherhood. In the second model the trolley 
car is not an object of wonder and awe, a monster 
of strength and speed. These models do not lift the 
child above the level of the commonplace or the cold 
realities of life. Contrast them with the following 
compositions written by second- and third-year chil- 
dren whose teacher's sympathy enabled her to stir the 
magic force of their imagination, so that the results 
are rich in imagery and poetic charm. 

Where Does the Wind Begin? 

The wind begins in the sky. The wind talks. What does 
the wind say? The wind says, "00000." 

Angelina L. 

The wind begins in the clouds. The wind goes to sleep in 
the forest. John H. 

I know where you live wind you live in the tree you are 
laughing wind. Albert V. 

Where does the wind begin? A big man blows it out of 
his moth. Philip V. 

The Robin's Song 

I hear the robin singing in the trees. He sings "The but- 
terflys are angel flowers." John R. 

Wake up ! Wake up ! Wake up ! It is robin Readbrest. 
Sunny warm weather is coming. Angelo S. 

6i 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

The robin sings the spring is coming. The spring is wak- 
ing the green grass. Little green buds are coming out of 
the trees. Joseph G. 

The robin sings to the Daffadils, "open your yellow eyes." 
The Robin's sits on my window and tells me a secret of 
spring-time. Mary R. 

I see the robin on the bushes. The robin is singing me a 
lovely song. The robin is telling me a secret. The flowers 
are bursting out of their buds because it is spring. 

Clara B. 

The robin sings Twee ! Twee ! Twee ! The robin says 
"Appleblosoms come out of your buds." He tells me to be 
happy for spring is here. Cornelius O. 

The Dark 

The dark keeps me warm. I see a lady dancing on the 
spark of the moon. The sun eats all the little people up. 

Mary R. 

The dark is all around. I see emporers and kings march- 
ing by. The sun swallows them up. Albert P. 

In the night it is dark. At night I see strange people and 
I hear strange music. In the morning the dark goes away. 
In the morning the strange people fade away. Clara B. 



SUGGESTED READING 

The suggested reading for this chapter will be found 
at the end of Chapter VIII. 



CHAPTER V 

COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

(Continued) 

HOW SECURE ORGANIZATION AND SEaUENCE: THE 

OUTLINE 

The Tendency to Ramble.— Of the three basic prob- 
lems that confront the grammar class teacher in com- 
position, lack of subject-matter, lack of sequence and 
expressional limitations, we have considered only the 
first. Our immediate task is, therefore, a considera- 
tion of the problem of organization of ideas for ra- 
tional expression. Children's compositions often lack 
this primary requisite, proper sequence of ideas. 
The child's tendency to ramble is responsible for 
his characteristic composition which lacks clearness 
and force. But we need not ascribe this weak- 
ness solely to children; adults, too, are often 
guilty of flagrant violations of the simple principle 
of logical sequence. Examine the trend of conver- 
sation in any ordinary gathering; every important 
topic is touched on and passed over in the "drift" of 
discussion because every new interest challenges at- 
tention. Class discussions of mature students are 
often examples of verbal spirals. Listen to the aver- 
age adult as he tells of some incident or expounds 

63 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

some principle, in which there is no inherent sequence 
of events — what a heterogeneous composite of facts! 

Illogical sequence of ideas and lack of coherence 
of thought are general failings. Teachers must not, 
therefore, be surprised to find these defects in chil- 
dren's work. Just as adults are unconscious of their 
limitations in this respect, so, too, are our immature 
pupils. The first problem that presents itself, there- 
fore, is not to teach the principle of organization but, 
to bring home the consciousness of its need and its 
importance. This can best be done by a method of 
reductio ad absurdum. After the child realizes his- 
limitations, present the positive aspects of the lesson, 
teach him how to secure organization through the 
elaboration of the outline. 

The Principle of Organization Taught by the Outline. 
— Let us suggest a lesson designed to bring home 
to the child the inherent tendency to ramble and to 
teach him a method of securing rational and syste- 
matic ordering of ideas. A descriptive composition 
on a well-selected topic can readily achieve this double 
end. With this purpose in view, the subject, "The 
Circus," was assigned to a fifth-year class. The chil- 
dren Avere made to understand that they must write 
such a description of the circus as would give one 
who has never seen it a clear idea of what he will see, 
and stir in him a desire to see the wonderful feats 
of skill and daring. Every child was then told to be 
ready to make a contribution of fact, each to tell what 
he would include in his own composition. The teacher 
took these items in the order in which they were sug- 

64 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

gested by children who were called upon promiscu- 
ously. Such a request for material brought the fol- 
lowing data from the class : the daredevil acts, the 
animals, the great tent, the three rings, the large 
signs, the group of small tents, the crowds, highly 
colored pictures, the peddlers selling refreshments, 
the horse riders, the acrobats, the "barkers" at the 
"side-shows," the band, the apparatus, the funny 
sights, the freaks, the arrangement of seats, etc. 

A few judicious questions and suggestions soon led 
the children to realize the utter absurdity of such an 
arrangement and to feel the need of systematic pres- 
entation of details. That done, the teacher elicited 
from the children a suitable sequence. "What would 
one see on first approaching the circus ground?" The 
conclusion reached by the class was : "The first para- 
graph ought to treat of the outside of the circus." 
The question, "What would one see on entering the 
circus inclosure after passing through the admission 
gate?" suggested to the class the theme for the second 
paragraph. In the Circus Grounds. The teacher then 
asked, "What would attract one's attention in the 
main tent?" and brought the children to a realization 
that the concluding paragraph must tell of the Great 
Circus Feats. The paragraphs with their respective 
headings were then written in separate columns on 
the blackboard and the first step in the development 
of the outline was completed. 

The children then folded their papers into three 
divisions, each part to serve for the outline of a single 
paragraph. They were then led to take up each item 

65 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

in their original promiscuous list of data and decide 
for themselves in what paragraph it belonged. Thus 
the first contribution, "daredevil acts," is evidently 
part of the paragraph on The Great Circus Feats; 
the second, ''the animals," part of the paragraph on 
Within the Circus Grounds, etc., until every fact 
worth including in the composition was properly 
placed. The result presented an appearance similar 
to the following: 



Par. I. Outside 
the Circus 

1. stretch of can- 

vas 

4. the great tent 

2. large signs 

5. the crowds 

3. highly colored 

pictures 



Par. II. Within the 
Circus Grounds 

7. the animals 

1. group of small 

tents 

4. the peddlers sell- 

ing refresh- 
ments 

2. "barkers" at 

"side-shows" 

3. the band 

5. the funny sights 

6. the freaks 



Par. III. The Cir- 
cus Feats 

2. the three rings 
I. the audience in 

seats 

6. horse riders 
5. acrobats 

7. the races 

4. the apparatus 

3. the clown 

8. the daredevil 

acts 



This done, the children were asked to examine the 
items in each paragraph and determine the logical po- 
sition of each. With the aid of prefixed numbers, 
they worked out the sequence of ideas in each para- 
graph as is shown in the outline above. 

Values of the Outline. ^ — The values of such a lesson 
in sequence and organization are many and significant. 
It is obviously an effective means of teaching the 

66 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

child the need of rational sequence of thought, and 
the mode of grouping ideas for clear and forceful ex- 
pression. The outline, properly used and elaborated, 
also trains the child in systematic thought, in clear 
and continued development of a line of thinking. As 
a formal classroom exercise for challenging the 
child's powers of judgment and concentration, it 
is excellent. Another inestimable value of the out- 
line is that it is the most concrete and the most 
efficacious method at the teacher's command of 
teaching the paragraph, its meaning, its develop- 
ment and its unity. This is true because the nature 
of a paragraph can best be taught through a form 
of contrast. There must be a number of paragraphs 
developing under the pupils' hands, otherwise they 
carry away notions that are vague and inaccurate. 
Then, too, the child learns best through some form 
of motorization. The method suggested for teaching 
the outline enables the child to learn the organiza- 
tion of paragraphs by actually evolving a number of 
them simultaneously arid noting the various basic 
ideas that determine the unity of each. 

The Drill to Insure Mastery of the Outline. — Since 
the object in all language teaching is to habituate the 
correct form it is evident that vigorous and persistent 
drill must follow this lesson. This drill must be 
varied as well as thorough so that interest in the les- 
son will not be endangered. To this end we may 
suggest a number of exercises : 

I. Similar topics are suggested to the class and 
the method is applied to each of these by the steps 

67 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

that were outlined in the model lesson. Such topics 
as, ^'Our Church," "The Polo Grounds," "Our 
School," "A Sporting Goods Window," "The East 
River Bridge," "The Peddler Selling Mechanical 
Toys," etc., allow for a simple application of the 
method learned to the new topic. 

2. Incidents, descriptions, expositions and the like, 
which abound in the children's textbooks, are taken 
up one by one and analyzed into component ideas in 
order to lay bare the outline which the author had in 
mind when he wrote the particular selection under 
study. The children are taught to point out the topic 
of each paragraph and then to test its paragraph unity. 

3. The next form of drill should take up varied top- 
ics of narrative, argumentative, expository and descrip- 
tive nature, which should be used in oral exercises. A 
few minutes after a new topic is announced the children 
must be ready to tell the number of paragraphs they 
would use in developing it and the theme of each para- 
graph. When a tentative set of paragraphs has been 
accepted the children must quickly evolve an appro- 
priate content for each and offer it to the class orally, 
when called up. After the last paragraph is given, 
a new topic is announced and the same rapid oral 
drill takes place. 

The subject given to a 6A grade in such a drill 
was, "The Breakdown of the Trolley Car." By skill- 
ful leading and emphasis of correct answers the 
teacher elicited from the class the following develop- 
ment: 

Par. I. The Trolley Car Collides with a Wagon. 

68 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

Par. 2. Impatience of the Passengers. 

Par. 3. Examination of the Extent of the Accident 
and Attempt at Repairs. 

Par. 4. Arrival of the Emergency Wagon and the 
Repair Crew. 

These four paragraph headings were put on the 
board and attention was then directed to the develop- 
ment of each one. In attacking the first one for elabo- 
ration, the children were able to work out a good 
opening sentence. After a few colorless attempts 
in which the teacher indicated the cause of the weak- 
ness, a sentence offered was, ''While I sat in a Third 
Avenue trolley, impatient at the slowness, the car 
came to a sudden standstill." The teacher's com- 
mendation of the opening sentence soon provoked 
from another child, " What terrible service ! What 
a snail car this is,' I said to myself, when all of a 
sudden there was a crash and the car stopped with 
a terrible jerk"; and from a third, "No trolley car 
travels so fast as when the motorman loses control 
of it." One development of this first paragraph, as 
given orally, was, ''We were all shaken up a bit but 
soon recovered from the fright and the noise of 
crashing window-panes. There was great excitement 
for a minute as the people rushed to the doors. When 
they realized that the danger was over they became 
calm and went to their seats again. It seemed that 
the wagon that collided with our car got the worse 
of it." 

Paragraph number 2, on the "impatience of the pas- 
sengers," brought sentences which told of the strain- 

69 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ing of necks, of complaints, of people who left in dis- 
gust, of women who wanted their fares back, and of 
men who lost themselves in newspapers. The third 
paragraph dealt with the examination of the acci- 
dent by the motorman and the conductor, their quar- 
rel with the wagon driver who caused the accident, 
their conference, their futile attempt at repair, and 
then their telephoning for help. The concluding para- 
graph, developed orally in the same way, told of the 
arrival of the emergency wagon, the business-like 
procedure with which these expert workmen set to 
work, the policeman taking notes, the final repair and 
the relief of having started again. 

All this work was oral; only hints and outlines of 
paragraphs were jotted down either on the board or 
on the children's cards. Every child's answers were 
examined and the class as a whole passed upon them, 
deciding whether particular facts were appropriate 
in the paragraph under consideration, whether the 
sequence of paragraphs was correct, etc. In the same 
way the following topics might be treated : "A Sport- 
ing Goods Window,'' ''A Mounted Policeman," "Jo^> 
the Pretzel Man," "A Beggar," "Pvcport of a Game," 
"An Athletic Meet," etc. Three or four of these topics 
could be taken up orally in one period. 

Cautions in Developing Outlines.- — There are common 
but erroneous practices in developing outlines that we 
must constantly guard against if we are to secure 
maximum results in this type of exercise. We must 
now turn to these cautions in this form of language 
work. 

70 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

1. The Outline Must Be the Child's Outline, — 
Every part of the lesson must be the result of the 
children's self-activity; they must suggest every fact 
in the outline; they must evolve the number of para- 
graphs; they must judge each item and decide upon 
its place in the general organization. Unless every 
act of judgment is performed by the pupils, the maxi- 
mum results of such a lesson cannot be realized. 

2. Too Many Details in the Outline Must Be 
Avoided. — It is important that the outline should not 
be laden with too many minute details. There should 
be a general organization, a broad suggestion of the 
line of development and of the proper sequence. An 
outline that gives an enumeration of petty details 
crushes individuality, kills spontaneity and robs the 
final composition of its best expressional elements. 

3. Avoid a Stereotyped Class Outline. — A final 
word of warning counsels that we avoid such out- 
lines as will give a set of compositions bearing re- 
markable similarity to one another in every detail — 
exercises that seem as if they were printed from the 
same type and cast in the same mold. How can we 
guard against this slavish imitation? How can we 
introduce individuality of expression and variety of 
form? 

How to Secure Variety in the Outlines. — i. Outlines 
Should Not Be Copied Verbatim. — Despite the fact 
that the class as a whole or a particular division 
may be writing on the same subject and from the 
same general outline, variety of expression and in- 
dividuality in the final product need not be stifled. 

71 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

After the outline is elaborated and the final form is 
shown on the blackboard, it should be erased and the 
children should be required to construct their own, 
each child thus producing an outline reflecting his 
own point of view and his own individuality. No 
matter how retentive the children may be, a delight- 
ful variety can be secured. 

2. Encourage Variety of Grouping. — After the 
children have learned the modus operandi in the con- 
struction of an outline, the teacher must not rest con- 
tent with one grouping of facts. Show the children 
that the number of paragraphs is not fixed, provided 
the items in each are shifted and rearranged under 
their logical heading. Variety will invariably result. 
Thus in a composition on "Our School," let it be sup- 
posed the visitor arrives in a carriage and enters at 
once, then what is the sequence of paragraphs? Evi- 
dently, paragraph i. Interior Structure; paragraph 2, 
Decorations; paragraph 3, Activities; paragraph 4, 
Exterior. Or, the visitor on entering is attracted by 
the work that is being done; hence the paragraphing 
is, paragraph i, Activities; paragraph 2, Structure 
That Makes This Possible; paragraph 3, Teaching 
Apparatus; paragraph 4, Decorations; paragraph 5, 
Exterior Structure, etc. Each child may therefore 
select that grouping which appeals to him most. 

In the description of the circus the teacher and 
the children should evolve other forms of paragraph 
development than the one suggested in the lesson, viz., 
paragraph i. The Parade Before the Opening of the 
Circus; paragraph 2, The Circus Grounds; paragraph 

72 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

3, The Circus Performance; or, paragraph i, The 
Circus Grounds; paragraph 2, The Performance in 
the Main Tent; paragraph 3, The Side-shows; or, 
paragraph i, The Preparation Before the Circus 
Comes to Town ; paragraph 2, How the Circus Is Put 
Up; paragraph 3, The Rehearsals; paragraph 4, The 
Performance. A child who experiences difficulty with 
one arrangement of paragraphs may find another sug- 
gestive and interesting. He must therefore be given 
free choice and be allowed to follow a paragraph 
grouping that is entirely original, should his ingenuity 
suggest one. 

3. Allozv Personal Choice of Details. — Once the 
paragraph themes have been suggested, teachers must 
allow children perfect freedom in the choice of de- 
tails. Thus in the paragraph on The Circus Feats 
in the composition on "The Circus," children may 
omit any data offered in the outline and incorporate 
any other feats of skill and daring that have greater 
attraction for them. What children are to say about 
the various suggestions in the outline about the *'side- 
shows," ''the barkers," "the acrobats," "the clown," 
etc., should never be indicated. Whatever the word 
suggests to their minds they should write, unham- 
pered by injudicious direction and dictation, and thus 
again offset the undesirable sameness of class pro- 
ductions. 

4. Encourage Variety of "Attacking and Closing" 
the Subject. — Another means of securing variety of 
form and showing personality in expression is to 
elicit a variety of beginnings and endings. The com- 

73 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

positions on *'Our School" showed the following in 
a 5B class : 

1. "I am very proud of my school for it is so at- 
tractive." 

2. ''Every visitor who comes to this section of the 
city is attracted by our school." 

3. "I praised my school so much that my uncle 
finally made up his mind to visit it. I met him at 
the teachers' entrance." 

4. "One of the very beautiful buildings in this city 
is . . ." 

5. "My country cousin was never so much sur- 
prised in all his life as he was when he visited my 
school." 

Then came a contrast between the city school and 
the country school. 

5. Avoid the Wordy Outline. — A final suggestion 
for securing variety in the organization of composi- 
tion is to suggest each item in the outline in only a 
word or two. Outlines made up of sentences or long 
phrases are bad, for the children soon learn to supply 
a few predicates, an adjective or an occasional modi- 
fying phrase or clause and the composition is com- 
plete. The scantier the outline, the better. 

How Closely Shall the Outline Be Followed? — A final 
problem which arises in the course of the employment 
of the outline is the extent to which the children shall 
consciously follow it. The answer cannot be didactic 
nor positive. It all depends upon (a) the nature of 

74 



COMPOSITIDN IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

the composition, and (b) the age and capabilities of 
the children. When the topic is one of exposition, 
or narration, or argumentation, then logical sequence 
is exceedingly important in securing clearness and 
force. But in writing a description of a person, a 
sunset, a brook, or a quaint room, the ultimate aim 
is to give a lasting and vivid impression of the pic- 
ture; here the choice of detail rather than the se- 
quence of facts is the vital problem, hence the out- 
line need only be followed in its general trend. 

As far as the child's age and capabilities are con- 
cerned, it may be safe to assert that through the sixth 
year of the elementary course, the outline must be 
a conscious prop in composition, and must inevitably 
take a considerable part of the oral period which pre- 
pares for the final expressional exercise. But there- 
after, it should gradually begin to assume a minor 
place in the preparatory period, not that the outline 
is now less important but because a habit of mind 
should have been formed in the fifth and sixth years 
of the school course. Where the outline is properly 
taught and impressed through drill of sufficient fre- 
quency during these two years, the child should be 
able in the later years of the school course to organize 
facts without aid or direction. Pupils of the seventh 
and eighth years when confronted by a composition 
subject, should habitually think: (a) What is the 
subject as a whole, i. e., what mass of facts comes 
under it? (b) What are the best groupings of these 
facts, i. e., how many paragraphs do I want and what 
are they? (c) How shall I organize each paragraph? 

75 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

and (d) what is an appropriate opening sentence and 
closing sentence? Before writing his composition, the 
child should give evidence of having accomplished this 
organization. The outline should be made a part of 
the composition and may even be placed at the head 
of the sheet. 

Supplementary Means of Developing Power of Organ- 
ization. — In addition to the formal lessons on the use 
of the outline, various supplementary methods can be 
incorporated in all periods for developing in children 
a sense of logical organization. After a story is read 
to the children, or by them, a few minutes may profit- 
ably be spent in eliciting from the pupils the outline 
that must have guided the author. Various games 
and processes, that make up the work of the physical 
training and the manual training periods respectively, 
may be submitted to careful analysis, and the steps in 
the procedure listed in proper sequence. In all lessons 
the teacher should take occasion, in the summary, to 
call the attention of the pupils to the organization 
of the facts that guided her in planning the topic for 
the period. Thus, after a geography, a history or a 
nature-study lesson, the teacher naturally calls upon 
the class to summarize the most essential facts. As 
the lesson is retraced, step by step, by the children, 
the main topics and subtopics should be listed on the 
board. When this summary is completed, the chil- 
dren see the sequence which governed the organiza- 
tion of the lesson. Then, too, all study lessons can 
be made informal but nevertheless direct means of 
teaching children the art of organization. The child 

76 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

who studies his lesson in geography tries, first, to as- 
certain the meaning of the text and then to group the 
most important facts in a logical outline before com- 
mitting to memory any of the data. These study les- 
sons make unmistakable contributions to the child's 
growing sense of organization. 



SUGGESTED READING 

The suggested reading for this chapter will be found 
at the end of Chapter VIIL 



CHAPTER VI 

COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

(Continued) 

EX1»IIESSI0NAL LIMITATIONS: THE MODEL 

The method of teaching composition in the gram- 
mar grades, it was seen, must be governed by the basic 
difficulties which confront the teacher, viz., lack of 
content, lack of organization, and expressional limita- 
tions. The first two of the three have already been 
considered in detail in the preceding chapters. We 
must now turn to the third factor which makes chil- 
dren's work poor and the teacher's problem difficult 
— expressional limitations, which consist of (a) un- 
grammatical forms, (b) confused and awkward ex- 
pressions, and (c) paucity of vocabulary of necessary 
words. Time and the influences of general education 
tend, in a measure, to overcome these three limitations 
and strengthen the child along these very weak lines, 
for as the child's education progresses he learns the 
primary laws of grammar, gradually acquires better 
expressions, and in the course of his daily reading, 
conversation, or study, enriches his limited stock of 
words. But all these modes are governed by chance. 
What specific means have we of bringing about prog- 
ress in these directions ? In the main, these are four : 

7^ 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

(i) group teaching, (2) a wise use of the outline, 
(3) establishing an intimate relationship betzveen 
grammar and composition, and (4) the use of the 
model. 

1. Group Teaching. — It is the common experience 
of all teachers that children usually vary greatly in 
expressional ability. Natural gifts seem to assert 
themselves in composition in most unmistakable terms. 
Some children are precocious in their expressional 
work, some are exceedingly good, while others seem 
hopelessly behind. The following compositions were 
written by two children in a seventh-year class. Both 
these boys had been in attendance the same time, came 
from about the same kind of home, and were in Amer- 
ica about the same number of years. 

King John 

King John was a cruel king. He cared more for money 
than for his people. Sometimes he would torture people just 
to see them in pain. One day the barons rebelled and made 
him sign a paper called the Magna Carta. This gave them 
rights they never had and put King John under control. 

King John 

King John was a very crul. He did not care for nobody 
but himself. People were very angry on him. They gave 
him a peace of paper wich was called magn Cart wich he 
was to sign to the peple. 

What a ludicrous attempt, therefore, is the compo- 
sition lesson which assigns the same topic to all chil- 

79 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

dren, presents the new principle simultaneously to 
them and expects the same standard of result from 
such varying abilities ! What a wrong to neglect those 
able and gifted in expression or to stultify their power 
by dragging them down to the level of the mediocre ! 
How stupid to expect the backward and hopelessly 
deficient to keep up with the standard of general class 
progress! When shall we realize that indiscriminate 
class teaching which neglects personal aptitudes or 
weaknesses and individual needs, stifles unmeasured 
ability on the one hand and perpetuates hopeless igno- 
rance on the other! The need for group teaching, 
for teaching according to personal capacity, is more 
urgent in composition than in any other elementary 
school subject. The possibilities for grouping are 
here more numerous and the conveniences for group 
teaching are greater, yet teachers are less prone to 
group in this subject than in others. The difficulties 
that a pupil encounters in composition are peculiarly 
personal, hence, only as we try to approximate indi- 
vidual work in composition, will the child outgrow 
his personal expressional limitations. 

2. The Outline. — A good outline, it was shown, is 
a great help toward clear and direct thinking. But 
expression follows thought; hence, clearness of ex- 
s pression is the inevitable sequel to clearness of think- 
ing. The outline, by systematizing the child's ideas, 
guarantees the necessary antecedent of clear and 
forceful expression. 

3. The Intimacy of Graimmar and Composition. — A 
third factor that seeks to minimize and correct ex- 

80 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

pressional limitations is the close relationship of gram- 
mar to composition. The ideal course in grammar 
is so planned that it emphasizes those parts that can 
be of service in writing, or can become standards of 
judgment and correction; the ideal grammar lesson 
has its origin in the faults committed by the chil- 
dren in their composition and finds its application in 
correction of these same faults. For purposes of il- 
lustration let us suppose that an examination of a set 
of compositions shows a tendency toward sentences 
related in thought but independent in construction, 
giving a very amateurish and childish effect. Ex- 
amples of this prevalent weakness are, ''Columbus 
was a bold navigator. He never feared to sail un- 
known seas" ; "The Civil War was a long and bloody 
conflict. It brought untold human misery." A num- 
ber of sentences similar in looseness of structure are 
put on the board. By a few well-chosen questions the 
teacher elicits that each pair of sentences has the same 
subject and that they can readily be united into one. 
The ever ready ''and" will undoubtedly be offered 
but again the children can be led to see that the same 
looseness of structure is still present. If no pupil 
can combine the first two sentences to produce a sus- 
pended sentence, the teacher offers, "Columbus, who 
was a bold navigator, never feared to sail unknown 
seas." As the loose sentence, "Columbus was a brave 
navigator and never feared to sail unknown seas," is 
compared with the suspended one, the children readily 
feel the difference in force and the superior ability 
of the latter to command attention to the very last 

8i 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

word. It is now a simple matter to elicit from the 
class that the word "who" made possible this im- 
provement in their loose sentence structure. In the 
same way the succeeding pair of sentences are taken 
up and the children led to see the value of such words 
as "which, who, whose, whom," etc. The question, 
"What shall we study in our grammar lesson to-day?" 
brings the answer, "The words, who, zvhich, whose, 
zvhom/' The lesson is thus justified, a vital motive 
that prompts dynamic interest is supplied, and a defi- 
nite aim is established for the period. At the end 
of the lesson each child carefully reads his last com- 
position and improves every loose construction by a 
form of the relative pronouns he has learned. Such 
lessons make grammar real and enable the child to im- 
prove his speech by intelligent self-criticism and cor- 
rection. 

THE MODEL 

The most potent single factor in elevating standards 
of expression is the model. Its place in the teaching 
of composition must receive our attention for the re- 
mainder of the chapter. 

4. Basic Principle of Teaching Language Through a 
Model. — The psychological principle which justifies 
the emphasis that is to-day placed on the model as 
an aid in the teaching of composition, is the oft-quoted 
dictum, "Language is learned through imitation." 
The model is studied appreciatively until its appeal 
sinks deep and becomes part of the pupils, so that un- 
consciously a child reproduces its wording and its 
phrasing in his own speech. This method of teaching 

82 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

composition based on imitation is not a process of in- 
struction peculiar to the school; it is the method fol- 
lowed by writers of the first rank. Stevenson tells 
us, "I always kept two books, one to read, one to 
write in. . . . Whenever I read a book or a passage 
that pleases me, I must always sit down and ape that 
quality. ... I have thus played the sedulous ape to 
Hazlitt, to Lamb, to Wordsworth. . . . That is the 
way to learn to write." Many of the great masters 
have developed technique by this method. We see then 
that we need not concern ourselves very vitally with 
those teachers and principals who refuse to use the 
model because ''it means imitation and a curbing of 
individuality of expression." Properly used the model 
discourages that peculiar individuality of expression 
that children can well afford to lose. 

The Selection of the Model. — The proper choice of a 
model will often determine the spirit, the enthusiasm, 
the efficiency of the lesson itself. What considera- 
tion should guide the teacher in making the selection 
for a particular class? 

I. The Model Must Be Above the Children in Tone 
hut not in Comprehension. — The trite advice, "Use 
models of plain everyday English," has little to jus- 
tify its application. The model must present no 
thought difficulty; it must be on the child's level of 
comprehension and interest. But its tone and spirit 
must be literary and lofty, so that the child consciously 
looks up to the model. Dr. William H. Maxwell, Su- 
perintendent of New York City Schools, therefore, 
cautions teachers not to make up their own models. 

83 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

He insists that their source should be of some standard 
literary repute. 

But it is important, however, that the teacher reahze 
that there is a sharp distinction between the literary 
standard of the child whose appreciation is crude in 
the extreme, and the literary requirement of the adult 
whose linguistic taste has been refined through years 
of cultural pursuits. Judged by literary canons, a 
particular selection may possess unusual merit, but 
its very excellence may make it inappropriate for the 
pupil of school age. We must see the model through 
the child's eyes and interpret it in terms of the child's 
interests, otherwise we may thrust the child into deep 
waters from which he cannot emerge, and he drowns 
in utter discouragement. O'Shea, in his 'Tingulstic 
Development," warns us therefore: 

The pupil must feel the limitations in his present equip- 
ment before he can appropriate readily and effectively the 
means of extending it. So it is poor policy to give pupils in 
the seventh and eighth years and even in the high school, 
models in literary expression taken from the involved writ- 
ings of Milton, Shakespeare, Bacon, Tennyson, Addison and 
the like. The formal grammatical and rhetorical textbooks 
are full of complicated but excellent examples of expression, 
judged from the standpoint of the appreciative adult, culled 
from the wrorld's great literature, the aim being to illustrate 
every quality of strength and grace and efficiency in style 
by the best instances to be found anywhere. But there is an 
error here which runs through much of our educational 
theory; what is logically "best" in adult appreciation is in- 
terpreted to be most suitable for the child at every stage of 
his development. 

84 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

Bearing this warning in mind, the following letter 
of the late Richard Mansfield to his son Gibbs meets 
the first requisite of an appropriate model. It is charm- 
ing in its simplicity. Its diction, its force, and its ease 
raise it to a literary plane. 

Private Car 80, 
Colorado Springs, May 27. 
My dear, dear Boy: 

I received your beautiful letter, and I was proud to think 
that you could dictate it yourself. Of course, you want to 
go fishing, so does your Dada, and also to go rowing, but he 
is sorry you do not want to play Indian. Playing Indian is 
great fun, for you carry a gun or a bow and arrow, and you 
lope all day long after somebody without stopping to eat or 
drink, and, when at last you find this somebody that you 
have been looking for you 'get down on your stomach and 
wriggle like a snake without making any noise until you 
reach him. 

Then you give a dreadful whoop and cut ofiF his hair, if 
he has any, and hang it up in your wigwam. 

There are lots of other things you can do, but it is time 
for me to talk of something else now. I am sitting in my 
car and the lamps are lighted and are covered with pink 
shades, and outside it is raining (it wouldn't be pleasant if 
it were raining inside, would it?) and the drip, drip, drip of 
the rain on the roof makes me feel very cosy and sleepy. 
If you were here, I would give you some beautiful 
marbles to play with, and you could sit on the rug and roll 
them. 

To-day it rained so hard that all the little streams drank 
so much water that they grew and grew and grew until they 
became giants, and then they were proud and naughty, and 
took the bridges and the rails in their quivering hands and 
tore them away, so that your Dada's train could not go any 
farther. When you are a grown-up engineer you will build 

83 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

bridges and rails that the giant streams can't tear away, 
won't you? 

On Sunday I went for a drive with Mr. Dillon, and we 
went to a spring where real soda water bubbles out of the 
ground, and then drove home through a place called the 
Garden of the Gods, where there are rocks formed by Na- 
ture to look like eagles and frogs and little old men and all 
kinds of people and things, and we saw a little baby donkey, 
a real one, and your Dada bought it for his little boy, and 
if he is as good as he always is (not the donkey, but the 
boy), then Dada's boy can ride and drive it next year, 
please God. 

And now Dada kisses his boy just one hundred and one 
times and fifty and a half are for mudder. Jefferson is 
bringing Dada's supper, and Dada is going to eat it and 
thank the Lord he has such a good boy and such a dear 
mudder. Dada. 



Compare this literary letter, charming and appeal- 
ing in its simplicity but essentially on the child's level 
of comprehension and interest, with the following flat 
and insipid models offered to teachers by principals 
wHo believe that ''models must be on the plane of 
everyday English." 

Jack and the Beanstalk 

Jack lived with his mother. She was a poor widow. A 
giant had killed her husband and stolen her gold. 

One day the widow told Jack to sell her cow. The foolish 
boy sold it for a few beans. His angry mother threw the 
beans out of the window. The next morning Jack found a 
beanstalk growing outside his window. It seemed to reach 
the sky. 

86 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

The Golden Touch 

There was once a king named Midas. His little daughter's 
name was Marygold. 

The king loved gold very much. So he was given the 
golden touch. Then everything he touched became gold. 

At first this made the king feel very happy. One day he 
touched his little daughter. She became a golden statue. 
Then the king was glad to get rid of the golden touch. 

These pseudo-models lack zest and inspiration ; they 
are entirely devoid of literary merit and cannot there- 
fore stir in the child a spark of enthusiastic appre- 
ciation. How inferior does the second selection ap- 
pear in contrast with the composition written by a 
fourth-year child in spite of the repressive influence 
of the principal's literary sense. 

King Midas 

' Many hundreds of years ago there lived in a far-off land 
a king whose name was Midas. He had a beautiful little 
daughter named Marygold. The king loved her very much. 

Midas was very greedy. One day, a fairy came to him 
and told him he could have any wish he pleased. The king 
said, "Oh, kind fairy, please give me the gift that everything 
I touch should turn into gold." The beautiful fairy touched 
him with her wand, and said, "King Midas, you may have 
your wish." Then Midas was very happy. 

His happiness did not last very long. He wanted to eat 
a piece of bread — it turned to gold. He touched an apple — 
it turned to gold. 

One day he was in his treasure house counting his gold. 
His little daughter Marygold came in to kiss him good morn- 

87 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ing. He kissed her and she turned to gold. Then the king 
fell to the floor in a swoon. When he recovered he wished 
that he could lose the gift. Soon the fairy came back and 
Midas begged her to take back the gift. She took it back 
and changed everything back to its proper form. 

Yetta H 4A 

The two models quoted fail badly because they 
violate the very first of the cardinal principles of 
selection, — they are not above the children in tone and 
spirit. 

2. The Content of the Model Must Appeal to the 
Child's Interest. — The model must at all times reflect 
the child's life and environment. However beautiful 
in form, however lofty in appeal and literary in style, 
the content and not the form of the model will, in 
the last analysis, attract the child. We must be sure 
that there is something active, urgent and personal in 
the selection that is presented for analysis and study. 
The two models that follow illustrate the point under 
consideration, — the first, however, by its neglect of 
this requisite quality. 

How TO Play Tennis 

Tennis is a game played very much by both men and 
women. A ball, a racket for each player, a net, and a 
marked court are needed. 

The ball is hit with the racket by the first player. He 
must place the ball within certain lines or the hit counts 
against him. If the ball is placed properly, the second player 
must hit it with his racket. The object is to keep hitting 
the ball and placing it within the lines. The player, who 
has the highest count, wins. 

88 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

How "flat, stale, and unprofitable" is this imper- 
sonal, lifeless explanation when compared with the 
following personal, active, and natural exposition ! 

How I Built Davie's Wagon 

Little David is but six years of age, and like many other 
youngsters is determined to have his way. It was a hot 
day in June and David wanted to have some fun. His 
heart was set on a wagon. He stepped up to his hard 
working father and said, "Papa, make me a wagon." I, a 
friend of the neighboring carpenter, was standing nearby. 
So Mr. Abelman, turning to me, said, "If you don't mind, 
George, here is a box, some tools and a plank. I am con- 
fident you like carpenter work. Go into the back yard and 
make Dave a wagon." Having nothing to do, I agreed to 
this. I secured wheels and set to work. 

The first thing I did was to nail a plank to the bottom of 
the box exactly in the center, extending it a yard beyond 
the front of the box. I next nailed on the back axle and 
attached its wheels. I afterward took the front axle and 
nailed it to a small piece of flat board. I bored a hole 
through the center of the plank, three inches from its end, 
and another through the small piece of flat board on which 
the axle was nailed. Then I put a large screw through 
these holes so as to make the steering apparatus. Last of 
all I attached the front, smaller wheels and a cord to both 
ends of the axle. Now everything was complete; the wagon 
was finished and a pretty good job it was. 

You can imagine David's joy after the completion of the 
wagon. He owned a wagon he could call his own and made 
the other little fellows envious. 

3. The Model Must Illustrate Only One Specific 
Principle. — The model that exemplifies many princi- 
ples of composition usually teaches nothing, for in 

89 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

the end it entails diffusion of attention and results 
in no permanent acquisition. Select a model because 
it shows how to describe a person, how to describe a 
place, how to tell an incident, how to write a dialogue, 
how to give a clear exposition, etc. At the end of the 
period the child must consciously feel that at least one 
lesson has been made central, at least one principle of 
composition has been learned and mastered. 

4. Models Should Be Reasonably Short. — Another 
consideration governing a good choice of the model is 
its length. Models should be short, seldom exceed- 
ing two hundred and fifty words. The long model 
dissipates energy and attention and weakens the point 
to be taught. The short model allows for closer con- 
centration on the vital point, deeper and more lasting 
impression, and easier grasp of the underlying prin- 
ciple that is involved. 

5. All Models Need Not Come from ''Reputed Lit- 
erary Sources f — A final suggestion counsels that we 
use the best compositions of the last class as models 
for the succeeding pupils. This is in direct contra- 
diction to the prevalent belief that all models must 
have "reputed literary sources." The model of "re- 
puted literary source" may discourage; its very per- 
fection may preclude any attempt on the part of the 
child to imitate and approximate it. In all practical 
higher endeavors in life we usually strive to attain 
the possible, not the perfect. Confronted with the 
perfect literary model the child may feel his help- 
lessness and thus put forth no effort in his discourage- 
ment. One of the great limitations of the old en- 

90 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

graved copy-books was that the copy represented per- 
fection; hence failure seemed to the child a fore- 
gone conclusion. But with the product of one's own 
classmates as a model, a child is roused to healthy 
emulation, for the goal is possible and probable. 

General Treatment of the Model.— Now that we have 
justified the use of the model and have considered the 
guiding principles in making the most appropriate 
selections, we must turn our attention to the method 
of presenting it to the class. To make it easier to fol- 
low the lesson through its progressive steps, we must 
take a specific illustration and refer all procedure 
to it. *'Gellert," a narrative model offered by Sykes 
in his "Elementary English Composition" (p. i6), 
will serve this purpose admirably. 

Gellert 

Prince Llewellyn had a favorite greyhound named Gellert, 
gentle at home and valiant in the chase. One day the prince 
was about to go hunting and blew his horn for his dogs. 
All his dogs came save Gellert. He blew again and called 
but Gellert did not come. He could wait no longer and set 
off without his favorite. He had little success and returned 
to his castle vexed at his ill luck. 

As he came up to the castle-gate Gellert came bounding 
out to meet him. But the prince noticed that his lips and 
fangs were dripping with blood. The prince was startled. 
He thought of his infant child who often played with the 
dog. Rushing to the child's room, he found everything in 
disorder, the cradle overturned and daubed with blood. 
More and more terrified at the signs of conflict, he sought 
for his child but in vain. At last he felt sure that the hound 
had destroyed his son, and with the cry, "Monster, thou hast 

91 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

devoured my child/' he plunged his sword into the grey- 
hound's side. 

As Gellert gave his dying yell, a cry was heard from be- 
neath the overturned cradle and there Llewellyn found his 
child unharmed and just awakened from sleep, and beside 
him, torn in pieces and covered with blood, lay the body of a 
great gaunt wolf. 

Llewellyn was grieved to the heart; but nothing could 
bring his faithful dog to life again. He buried him by the 
castle wall, and over his grave he raised a great cairn of 
stones so that every passer-by might see it and remember his 
story. And the place to this day is called Beth Gellert or 
the Grave of Gellert. 

The Model in the Hands of the Children. — Each 
child must be supplied with a copy of the model. 
Merely to hear the model read by the teacher will not 
suffice for the auditory appeal is of the very weakest. 
To see it on the blackboard may help, but too many 
children cannot see all of the writing and proper con- 
centration is impossible with the disconcerting cir- 
cumstances attending such a presentation. With the 
model in the hands of each child, the proper appeal 
can be made and the necessary concentration and at- 
tention can be given. 

The Reading by the Teacher. — The lesson itself 
should begin with a reading of the model by the 
teacher, the children following on their individual 
copies. To call upon the children is not the most 
advisable procedure; they stumble and hesitate, new 
words confuse, new constructions fail to arouse proper 
meaning and the necessary expression is lost ; all these 
circumstances militate against the success of the les- 

92 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

son. The teacher's reading gives meaning and spirit 
to the selection; the expression of the reading will 
give comprehension even where words and phrases 
may be unfamiliar to the children. The lesson is 
thus begun with proper interest and attention and the 
proper attitude toward the work is aroused. 

The Outline of the Model Developed. — The next 
step is to trace the structure and the organization 
of ideas in the model. With this end in view the 
teacher must elicit the outline of the model. The 
children read it silently and then give ( i ) the name of 
each paragraph by pointing out the topic sentence. 

(2) They then analyze the contents of each paragraph 
and test for paragraph unity. Is the topic sentence 
justified? Does every sentence in the paragraph 
treat of the theme announced in the topic sentence? 

(3) Attention is next directed to the sequence of the 
whole series of paragraphs. What guided the author 
in making his paragraphs follow as they do? (4) 
The children are finally asked to consider, What are 
the opening and the closing sentences? Are they ef- 
fective ? Why ? 

The Comprehension of the Model. — Now that the 
children have seen the organization of the model and 
the development of the theme, the detailed study is 
begun. The teacher must see that all necessary words 
and expressions are made familiar, that unusually ef- 
fective expressions are emphasized, and that the chil- 
dren are led to imitate them orally and to attempt varia- 
tions upon them. Let us refer to "Gellert," the illus- 
tration selected. Do the children know the meaning of 

93 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

"greyhound," "save Gellert," "fangs," "conflict," "de- 
voured," "gaunt," and "cairn"? If they do not, all 
further study must wait for the acquisition of this 
information. "How shall it be given?" the teacher 
asks— "through the dictionary, through the context, 
through sentences, through word study and etymol- 
ogy, or through direct telling?" Any method will 
suffice, but in the main, the direct telling, the much 
condemned didactic method, must be used, for the 
governing object of the lesson is not to study words 
but to carry away the spirit and the form of the 
model as a whole. Since mere words must be subor- 
dinated to the thought and its expression, the shortest 
method is the best. 

Drill on Superior Forms of Expressions. — The 
teacher now turns attention to the best phrases in the 
model and tries to bring out their force and their 
worth as media of expression. Thus, "valiant in the 
chase," is subjected to a little exercise like the fol- 
lowing: "How would you express the same thought?" 
To this query of the teacher, children in a fifth-year 
class replied, "Brave while out hunting," "Courageous 
while out hunting," "Fearless while chasing the deer," 
"Brave while pursuing the deer," etc. The statements 
offered by the class as equivalents were compared 
with the original expression in the model and the chil- 
dren were led to note its superiority. To cap the 
point and make the drill effective, insist on original 
application. Let the children give a list of situations 
where the phrase can be applied, e. g., to the 
fireman, policeman, soldier, sailor, etc. Then have 

94 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

them construct sentences about these situations, using 
the expression that is to become part of their vocabu- 
laries, e.g.: ''The fire captain was valiant at the scene 
of the rescue of the old woman," ''The policeman 
was valiant in the pursuit of the burglar," "The 
general was valiant in the attack," etc., until an ef- 
fective impression has been made and the expression 
is on the highroad to the goal of habit. A similar 
drill can be given on "dripping blood," "vexed at his 
ill luck," "The prince was startled," "but in vain," etc. 

But the teacher may object, "When will the oral 
period come to an end if each good expression be 
made focal in such a drill?" Much time would un- 
doubtedly be consumed. Since the time is necessarily 
limited, we must sacrifice the number of expressions 
studied to the thoroughness of the drill. The teacher 
must select only two or three of the dozen admirable 
phrases and make sure that these become part of the 
children. If each model could be made to contribute 
two or three of these expressions toward the child's 
permanent linguistic possessions, each term would 
witness unmistakable progress. 

Emphasis on the Principle of the Composition Illus- 
trated by the Model. — The next point, and the most im- 
portant part of the lesson, is the emphasis on the spe- 
cific point that led to the selection of the model, the 
drill on the principle of composition which the model 
illustrates. 

If the model was selected to illustrate an argumen- 
tative composition, then it becomes the aim of the 
teacher to show the children that the organization re- 

95 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

quires successively, ( i ) that the topic or the question 
be stated, (2) that the outline of the arguments be 
foreshadowed, (3) that the first argument be posited, 

(4) that the proof for the first argument be given, 

(5) that the following arguments and their proofs 
be stated in the same way, (6) that the conclusion 
be drawn to bring home the contention that is up- 
held throughout. In the following composition, these 
points are attempted after a study of the model. The 
child's product lacks much that is desirable, but it is 
nevertheless a good statement of what the child feels 
and thinks. 

Resolved: That Examinations Are Unnecessary 

Examinations are given every term to test the pupil 

of his or her knowledge of different subjects. It is 

I -I done from the lowest grade in the primary to the highest 

department in college. The question arises, "Are these 

necessary?" 

I firmly believe that examinations are entirely unnec- 
essary because, first, they make the pupil nervous, and 

3 •! second, marks can be obtained in other ways. When the 

pupil is in the examination hall, things taught her leave 
her head entirely, therefore they are not a fair test of 

the pupil's knowledge. It is much better to count the 
pupil's recitations during the term than for them to be 
sent on short notice to the examination hall, as one is 
more familiar and feels more at home in one's own 
classroom. It's hurtful to the pupil's health as it works 
the pupil up to a nervous pitch and many pupils become 
very ill after them. 

96 



I 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

My opponents may say that the pupil has to be marked 
so that the teachers may know whether he or she is fit 
to go on to another grade, but that can be done by 
marking the pupil on his or her daily work, and averag- 
ing up the marks on the different subjects at the end of 
the term. Then again the other side might say that the 
pupil might become more nervous standing up and fac- 
ing the class while reciting than just answering an ex- 
amination paper, but again I say one feels and is more 
at home in the classroom and with the teacher than in 
the examination hall. They also might say that if one 
is not healthy enough to stand an examination they 
should not be at school, but it is just the examinations 
that make them unhealthy and nervous after the exami- 
nations. Annette H 8B. 



When the model is used to teach the art of expo- 
sition, emphasis is laid on (i) how the topic to be 
expounded is announced, (2) the importance of care- 
ful sequence, (3) the need of sentences that are distin- 
guished by their simplicity and clearness. As a final 
point we may mention that the child should be taught 
the test of good exposition. To do this let the chil- 
dren follow out the directions and see if the result is 
the desired end. Thus, in the composition on ''How 
'to Lay off a Baseball Diamond/' the child should 
actually 'lay off," to a scale, the measurements and 
the lines on a sheet of paper, and test the clearness 
of the exposition and the logic of the sequence. 
Whenever an exposition is written, each pupil should 
be required, if feasible, to express diagrammatically 
or graphically the directions in his own composition 
as a test of the efficiency of his written work. 

97 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

In the case of narration, the analysis of the model 
must be such as will reveal the four component ele- 
ments of a good narrative : 

1. The Plot, ^The What?" 

2. The Characters, "The Who?" 

3. Situation, "The Where — The When?" 

4. The Purpose, "The Why?" 

The introduction must give the "who," the "where" 
and "when," and the "why"; the succeeding para- 
graphs offer the "what," the plot. The child thus 
learns that the organization of a narrative lies in the 
sequence of events as they happened in time, that the 
series of occurrences begins with the preliminary 
events and the setting of the scene, and gradually 
works up to the climax which in its turn is followed 
by the denouement, the surprise in outcome or ending. 
An analysis of the model on "Gellert" reveals, very 
readily, this structure. Of course, it is obvious that 
not all these elements and principles of composition 
would be taught in any one period. A whole lesson 
may well be spent learning how to write a climax. 
The children analyze the model and note that the 
climax is preceded by rather slow movement, long 
sentences, discursive style, that the climax has maxi- 
mum movement and is made up of a number of short 
sentences and independent clauses. Thus, in the model 
studied, we find, "The prince was startled . . . 
rushed to the child's room . . . everything in disor- 
der . . . cradle overturned . . . daubed with blood" 
. . . Every verb is an action word. This is followed 
by a series of imitations by the children, in which 

98 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

they take first the same subject and then similar sub- 
jects for their themes. The teacher takes one or two 
topics and gives his chmax as he would write it; the 
children then try their own. Thus, the teacher offers, 
as the climax in a composition on "A Fire" : 

The smoke was now curling out of each window. It be- 
came blacker and denser. The crash of breaking glass filled 
the air. Above the din, a sharp cry rang out. A helpless 
woman stood on the third floor fire-escape. A sheet of 
flame now leaped out of the story above. The upper struc- 
ture was almost entirely enveloped. "Help ! Help !" was 
taken up by all bystanders. But help was almost beyond 
human power. 

The children are asked to suggest a similar situa- 
tion and the teacher offers to give the climax in appro- 
priate form. Suppose that the children suggest "The 
Fire Engine and the Child." The teacher proceeds: 

The sharp shrill whistle of the engine is piercing the air. 
The heavy wagon is rounding the corner. The strained face 
of the driver changes. He pulls frantically at his reins. 
What can be the matter? See! ... a child in the road- 
way ! The mother's screams ring out wildly. The bystand- 
ers are in dismay. Horror-stricken they stand motionless. 
I shudder to see what the next moment will bring ! 

As the children's imaginations conjure up new situ- 
ations of hairbreadth escapes and breathless excite- 
ment, the teacher gives, on the moment, the fitting 
climax. This arouses great enthusiasm and the 
teacher need only challenge the children to imitate this 
construction in new topics that he may assign. A com- 

99 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

petition is started, to see which pupil can, by using 
short sentences and independent clauses with action 
verbs, give the greatest feeling of suspense and ex- 
citement in the situations of "A Man Overboard," 
"The Stranded Ship," ''Columbus Sighting Land," 
'Tocahontas Saving Captain John Smith," ''Crash- 
ing into an Iceberg," and the like. Only as one point 
is made focal in the lesson, harped on, imitated, and 
repeated from varied views and angles, is the child's 
language ability developed. 

In the same manner we treat in the formal lesson, 
a model description. Now the teacher carefully brings 
home, the fact that in effective description we should 
give: (i) the general impression, "As I looked up, 
a most delightful spectacle confronted me," etc.; (2) 
the point of view, "There, before me, stretching to 
the right and left, lay a beautiful sheet of water"; 
(3) the general comparison, "It resembled those 
charming oval lakes that stud the landscape of North- 
ern Maine "; (4) choice of details, use of color and 
picture words — those words and details which empha- 
size the calm of the lake, and the feeling of quiet 
satisfaction, and which give the most vivid picture; 
(5) the lasting impression, "It was one of those 
haunts of Nature where peace and contentment reign." 

Here again, we must remember that for any one 
lesson only one point is selected and the drill is given 
to make that a permanent acquisition. Let us sup- 
pose that details and color words are to be empha- 
sized in the study of a particular model of description. 
"Der Kleine Johannes" is studied and the children are 

100 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 



led to see that all details, all words, suggest tranquillity, 
peace of nature and of man. A new topic is given, the 
dominant characteristics are elicited and suitable adjec- 
tives listed on the board in preparation for the drill. 



Topic 



I. A Rapid River 



2. A Snowfall 



3. A Beggar 



Brooklyn 
Bridge by 
Day and by 
Night 



5. A Street Scene 



Characteristics 

I. movement 
mass of water 
noise 



2. slow 
quiet 
calm 
pure 



3. pity 
fear 
disgust 



4. Contrast of im- 
pression 



noise 
rush 

hurry scurry 
insignificance of 
the individual 
lOI 



Adjectives 

1. noisy 
turbulent 
rushing 
whirling, etc. 

2. Same words as 

characteristics 



3. ragged 
hungry 
thin 
pale 
sickly 
dirty 
shaking 
pleading, etc. 

4. Contrast of ad- 

jectives 



5. Same words as 
characteristics 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Each topic is now taken up and with the aid of the 
suggestions on the blackboard, the descriptions are at- 
tempted orally by the children. In this way a number 
of themes can be outlined and elaborated in the oral 
period and the child learns that in writing the de- 
scription of a place, a person, or a thing, only such 
characteristic details and color words are selected as 
will give the auditor or reader one predominant and 
permanent impression. 

But it may be argued, ''Why study these forms in 
the elementary school?" It is true that when children 
leave school they will not indulge in descriptive para- 
graphs nor does their correspondence require an in- 
timate knowledge of the technical structure of nar- 
ration or exposition. While this must undoubtedly 
be admitted, we cannot, however, draw the conclusion, 
"Therefore do not teach these." We are engaged in 
teaching correct expression; and these forms are the 
media. Even though letter writing does constitute 
the sum total of the written composition in the later 
life of most people, a letter which rises above the 
level of personal twaddle and gossip shows touches of 
description, of narration, of exposition and of argu- 
mentation. And, finally, we must remember that these 
composition exercises have their value and applica- 
tion in the literature lessons. When in the course 
of future reading, the child sees a passage that in- 
terests him, he can analyze it and criticize, it in terms 
of his standard. His eyes are open, for instance, to 
the masterful picture of Ichahod Crane, to Irving's 
happy choice of characteristic details and rich picture 

102 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

words. These exercises, properly presented and 
stressed, teach the child the technique of expression 
and give drill until correct forms become habit in both 
oral and written speech. 

The Final Reading of the Model. — The topic un- 
der discussion is the consideration of a method of 
teaching the model. The mode of procedure fol- 
lows a number of steps : ( i ) the reading of the model 
by the teacher, (2) the outline of the model for the 
study of its sequence, (3) a study of unfamiliar but 
necessary wording and phraseology, (4) a study of 
the basic principles for which the model is chosen. 
The final step in the study of the model requires that 
we have a final reading of it, either by the teacher 
or by one of the best readers among the pupils. The 
reasons for this last reading are many and obvious. 
In the course of the analytical and detailed study, the 
model was well dissected. It is now necessary to give 
a unified impression. The final reading leads not 
only to this end but to an increased familiarization. 
In addition one always experiences a keen pleasure 
from an increased appreciation of old knowledge. It 
is in this final reading that the child sees how much 
the lesson has meant to him, how much more he now 
reads into it, and consequently how much more he 
reads out of it. 

How Closely Shall the Model Be Followed? — Having 
presented the model systematically and thoroughly, 
the teacher must next concern herself with the prob- 
lem of how closely to follow it in the course of con- 
scious imitation. A moment's thought will show the 

103 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

futility of the positive answers found in so many- 
manuals on composition. Any degree of imitation is 
justifiable, depending upon governing circumstances. 
These are (i) the ability of the children, (2) the 
previous study and use of models, (3) the nature of 
the topic. It follows, therefore, that the imitation 
will vary from exact transcription, to writing on the 
same topic, to writing on a kindred topic, to studying 
the model after the original is written by the child. Imi- 
tation, therefore, varies from the appropriation of the 
exact words and phrases to a mere reproduction of 
form and spirit. The degree of imitation hence grad- 
ually grows less as the child progresses through the 
grades. But even in the upper classes different privi- 
leges and varied treatment must be accorded to the 
children on the basis of ability. If we follow some 
group system of teaching composition, then children 
in the proficient group are required to apply the 
lessons learned from the model, in original topics, 
while those in the second division who are medi- 
ocre or deficient, follow the model closely, write 
on the same topic and try to reproduce the organ- 
ization and even in parts the very phraseology it- 
self. 

Should the Model Precede or Follow the Composition? 
— A source of endless contention among writers on 
composition is the time when the model is to be studied 
— before or after the composition is written by the 
children. The debates are spirited and enthusiastic, 
each side claiming the glory of victory. The verdict, 
however, cannot be given to either side, for both are 

104 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

correct, each, of course, in its own circumstances. 
What are the merits in the dispute? 

Those teachers who argue, "before," that the 
model must precede the child's written composition, 
insist that language is learned through imitation. If 
the model is not given the child before the written 
composition, he has nothing to imitate. When a new 
topic is presented or a new form of composition is 
assigned, the child feels lost. All expression is para- 
lyzed in the face of the technical difficulties. Let 
the child learn the mode of procedure, the organiza- 
tion, and the attack, from the model, and the feeling 
of confidence which ensues, guarantees free and easy 
expression, for the child, unhampered by formal prob- 
lems, expresses his mind freely. 

Those who champion the opposite side of the con- 
troversy are much perturbed by such a contention, for 
they argue that to present the model first kills all 
originality and deadens every spark of personal in- 
terest. The child is too immature to see the literary 
value and beauty of the model. Let the child, there- 
fore, write his own composition, replete with crudi- 
ties and flagrant errors. Then let him study the 
model, compare it with his own product and see its 
inferiority in the contrast. Thus there will be aroused 
in each child a feeling of discontent with his limi- 
tations and he will be spurred on to greater effort. 
But may it not entirely dishearten the child when he 
perceives his own inferiority? 

These contestants do not realize that there are two 
uses of a model, viz., a standard for imitation and a 

105 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

standard for correction. In discharging the first func- 
tion, the model must naturally be used before the 
composition, but for purposes of correction, it fol- 
lows the child's own production. Realizing the limi- 
tations of any arbitrary law, it may nevertheless be 
stated as a safe tendency that through the sixth year 
all models should precede children's compositions, for 
the pupils are still too poor in language possession 
to launch out for themselves. In the seventh and 
eighth years the model should be used as a standard 
for imitation in new and difficult forms, i. e., in de- 
scriptions, in argumentations, and the like. But, when 
the topic is of an old form, a narration, or a business 
letter, or a biography, the children should write their 
own compositions first and then use the model as a 
standard for correction. The model is studied very 
carefully and then the original compositions are cor- 
rected in the light of the lessons learned and the limi- 
tations noted. 

How to Prevent Slavish Imitation of the Model. — The 
final topic in the discussion of the model is the means 
of guarding against overimitation, which makes com- 
position little more than a transcription exercise and 
kills whatever originality and enthusiasm the child 
may have in his self-expression. The suggestions 
that are offered for guarding against slavish imitation 
are simple indeed, though often neglected in the rou- 
tine of teaching. 

I. Variety of Organisation. — The simplest method 
of introducing a personal note in the compositions 
written after the model is studied, is to evolve with 

io6 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

the children all the possible forms of organizing the 
facts of the subject. At the end of such an exercise 
each child decides for himself, the number of para- 
graphs he will have, the theme of each, and the group- 
ing of facts under them. It is evident also that each 
mode of organization will have its appropriate open- 
ing and closing sentence. In discussing the element 
of originality in the outline, instances were quoted 
from children's work illustrating the point under dis- 
cussion. 

2. Drill on Synonymous Expressions. — In the 
study of the model entitled ''Gellert" it was shown 
how rich and varied an exercise can be worked out 
by eliciting synonymous expressions for "valiant in 
the chase." Such a drill entails a verbal stock-taking 
which leaves the child with a more varied and richer 
vocabulary. In the "Pied Piper of Hamelin," we 
find among others, the expressions, "The town was 
infested with rats," "The people were beside them- 
selves," "His clothes were variegated," and "gray 
rats, brown rats, young rats, old rats." These were 
made basic in a drill on variety of synonymous ex- 
pressions with a fifth-year class. The children gave, 
"The town was rat-ridden," "It was a town of rats," 
"The rats of the universe seemed to collect there," 
"The rats made the town their home," "It seemed as 
if no rat was happy unless it got there," etc., for the 
first. "The people hardly knew what to do," "The 
people were driven to desperation," "The problem 
seemed hopeless to the townsfolk," "The townspeo- 
ple despaired of ever getting rid of the rats," are 

107 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

types of equivalents that were elicited for the second. 
Such a drill is therefore an effective means of guard- 
ing against too close an imitation of the model. 

The Variation Method. — A special method known 
as the "variation method" is gaining much popu- 
larity in many schools. Teachers who follow this 
method select a story which is read to the class. The 
story is then outlined and subdivided into logical parts. 
The first logical subdivision is treated somewhat as 
follows. The first sentence is written on the black- 
board. Subject, predicate, complement and important 
modifiers are marked off by vertical lines. Each part 
of the sentence is then subjected to variations and 
each contribution that is accepted is put on the board 
in its proper column. The writer observed such a 
lesson in which the sentence for the day was, "The 
old scholar arose early each day to study the holy 
law." For the subject, "the old scholar," the chil- 
dren offered : "the old prophet," "the prophet of old," 
"the pious old man," "the God-fearing rabbi," "the 
religious teacher," "the old religious student." For 
the predicate verb, the teacher elicited, "awoke," "be- 
stirred himself," "left his bed." For the adverbial 
modifier, "early each day," the children offered, "at 
the dawn of day," "at the first sign of day," "at the 
coming of daylight," "before the sun showed his 
face," "before the darkness of night had left," "when 
the world was still wrapped in the darkness of the 
night." Toward the end of the period, the blackboard 
work took on an appearance like the following, each 
contribution being in different colored chalk : 

io8 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 



I 

^' _d 'S '^ 

!3 -O O f^ O 

■-^ 5- o n J 

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109 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Three twenty to thirty minute lessons were devoted 
to this work every week in this class. At the end of 
each lesson, each child selected the sentence that ap- 
pealed most to him. Thus, one child selected, "The 
pious old man bestirred himself at the coming of 
daylight to learn the Holy Book," as his synthetic 
product, while another thought, "The old prophet 
arose at the first sign of day to study the holy law/' 
the best combination. The sentence selected was 
copied into a notebook. Each lesson, therefore, en- 
riched the story by a sentence which each child se- 
lected for himself. When the whole story was thus 
gone over, each child had the same story told in a 
different way. 

The worth of such a procedure is unquestionable. 
It enriches the vocabulary, giving it greater flexi- 
bility and breadth; it teaches variety of sentence struc- 
ture; it maintains active interest through friendly 
and helpful rivalry; and exercises to a large degree, 
the self-activity of the child. As a device in compo- 
sition, it is of rare worth. But as a method to sup- 
plant all other ways of teaching composition, it must 
be condemned. Composition teaching means train- 
ing in logical organization, in sustained thinking, 
in accurate and intelligent observation, in spon- 
taneous expression. These ends are obviously 
and necessarily lost sight of in the variation 
method. 

3. Vary the Topic. — In selecting the topic for com- 
position the teacher should usually take, not one iden- 
tical with that of the model, but rather one that al- 

IIO 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

lows general imitation only. Care must be exercised 
not to select a topic so similar that all a pupil 
need do is to change the name from ''A Fire- 
man" to "A Policeman"; from "A Sailor" to "A 
Soldier." If the model studied gave a description of 
a mounted policeman, the topic for composition should 
call for the description of a beggar, a peddler, a for- 
eigner; in a word, a topic in which the principles 
learned in the model will be applied, but the point of 
view, the phraseology, and the specific organization 
will allow for welcome variety. 

Actual experience convinces the teacher of the dead- 
ening effect of choosing too similar a topic. In a 4A 
class, the model studied was ^'Little Marie of Lehon." 
The model that was presented for the literary in- 
spiration of the children ran as follows: 

There she was, trotting toward us in her round cap, blue 
woolen gown, white apron, and wooden shoes. 

On her head was a loaf of buckwheat as big as a small 
wheel. In one hand she held a basket full of green stuff, 
while the other led an old goat which seemed in no hurry 
to go home. 

She was a rosy bright-eyed child. She looked rather shy 
and always seemed in haste. 

After an analytical study of this lifeless and in- 
sipid model the children were told to write a similar 
description of a personal friend. A typical result of 
such an assignment is quoted so that the reader 
may make the comparison and draw the obvious 
moral. 

Ill 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

My Friend Jennie 

There was my friend Jennie. She was jumping a rope. 
In one hand she carried a loaf of bread and in the other 
she carried a pitcher of milk. She used to be a rosy child 
but she is pale now. 

4. Every Composition Should Be a Personal Com- 
position. — In all topics the teacher must have the chil- 
dren so change the items and facts of the model that 
there will result an intensely personal expression. An 
illustration of this suggestion is found in a common 
form of business correspondence, a letter of applica- 
tion for a position. But no matter who the child may 
be who writes it, in what class it is written, or what 
position is applied for, it is always the same, stupid, 
stiff and stilted meaningless formality, — ^'Having seen 
your advertisement in this morning's ... I herewith 
beg leave to offer myself as an applicant for the po- 
sition." There is no justification for such formality, 
for few letters are more personal and urgent than an 
application. 

If one were to try to convince an employer to let 
him have a particular position what would be his line 
of argument? First, he would analyze the position 
and make a list of the necessary qualifications that 
one must possess to fulfill the requirements. Second, 
he would proceed to prove that because of special 
training and experience, he possessed these qualifica- 
tions in so strong a measure that the employer could 
not, in justice to his business interest, refuse the ap- 
plicant. This, at any rate, seems to be the course 

112 



COMPOSITION IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES 

dictated by the urgency of the situation. Why should 
we teach a set form and inflict it upon our children, 
with all its meaningless words, when it is precisely the 
kind of application that would never make a favorable 
impression ? 

Let us assume that a boy is writing a letter apply- 
ing for a position as errand boy; what should he 
include in his letter? What are the demands of the 
position? One must (a) know the city, (b) be quick 
and alive, (c) be honest and reliable. In the light 
of these requirements a boy should say (a) that he 
was born in the city, hence the inference is that he 
knows the city streets and highways; (b) that he sold 
newspapers for two years and is therefore alive and 
alert ;^ (c) that he served as cash boy in a department 
store on Saturdays and during the holiday season and 
can bring references, thus showing that he is honest 
and trustworthy. These essentials are precisely the 
very items that children who follow the set model al- 
ways fail to mention. 

Another illustration will suffice. The position ap- 
plied for by a class of sixth-year boys was that of 
"wagon boy" for John Wanamaker. They all in- 
formed the gentleman that they noted his advertise- 
ment in the morning newspaper, that they begged 
leave to offer themselves as applicants, that they had 
completed the sixth year of the public school, that they 
lived with their parents, that they could bring ref- 
erences from principals or teachers. But the employer 
is not interested in all these estimable things. They 
are all beside the mark. To qualify for the position 

113 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

one must know the streets and avenues of the city; 
be able to understand more than the English language, 
because so many foreigners purchase at the store; 
know how to care for a horse ; be alert and active, and 
honest. Let the children list these requisites. What 
can they offer? ''Born in New York City" is cer- 
tainly an asset. ''I can speak or understand German 
as well as English," is worth adding. 'T helped on a 
milk route," is another qualification that has a direct 
bearing on the position. In the class referred to al- 
most every lad spoke one other language besides Eng- 
lish, but the fact was not mentioned; ten lads could 
drive, but not one said so. Every bit of personal ap- 
peal was lost in the dead formalism of the model. 

5. Teach Through Many Models. — In teaching any 
principle of composition in grades above the sixth 
year more than one model may be used ; two or three 
may be presented and the principle of composition 
evolved from them. The point is taught, but the va- 
riety of the appeal guarantees a rational rather than a 
slavish imitation. 

6. The Model after the Child's Effort. — A final sug- 
gestion advises that just as soon as it is feasible, the 
model should be used as a standard for correction 
rather than for imitation, hence the model is to follow 
rather than precede the child's original composition. 

SUGGESTED READING 

The suggested reading for this chapter will be found 
at the end of Chapter VIII. 

114 



CHAPTER VII 
THE CORRECTION OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 

In introducing the subject of the teaching of com- 
position in the grammar grades, it was observed that 
the method-whole in composition required three sep- 
arate and distinct periods, each having its own aim, 
function and organization. These were designated 
(i) the period of oral drill and teaching, (2) the 
period of written composition, and (3) the period of 
correction. The three preceding chapters concerned 
themselves with the conduct of the first of these 
periods; the present chapter must give itself to the 
second and the third. We must pass, therefore, to a 
consideration of the second period. 

The Period of "Written Composition. — In the first pe- 
riod the science of composition Is taught. But this 
aspect of the subject finds its justification in applica- 
tion and in rational use. The second period, there- 
fore, concerns itself with the art side of teaching. 
The teacher's task of instructing and the pupils' task 
of learning give way to a free and personal expression 
by the children. This is pre-eminently their period. 

The Teacher's Function. — But It must not be er- 
roneously assumed that since the period of direct 

115 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

teaching is over, the teacher need only see that the 
children are amply supplied with paper and ink and 
started on their written work. The teacher's function, 
though not instructional, is nevertheless supervisory. 
Teachers must not conveniently eliminate themselves 
from this period merely because the burden of the 
work is necessarily thrown upon the children. 

What is the teacher's work of supervision in this 
period ? First we must mention the tireless effort that 
must be made to correct bad physical posture of the 
children during written work. Impaired eyesight, 
j-ound shoulders, depressed abdominal cavities are a 
few of the many distressing effects due to bad posture 
in written work. The most essential fact to remem- 
ber is that bad posture which is not persistently cor- 
rected soon becomes a habit from the clutch of which 
the child cannot free himself. 

It is also important that the character of the work 
should be watched constantly. A word of praise to a 
child who has begun well keeps the fount of effort 
freely flowing; a word of warning or censure awakens 
the child to a realization that he must approximate a 
higher standard. While the children are writing, the 
teacher must walk about the room, up and down 
aisles, and inspect work, not in a spirit of espionage 
but rather in the attitude of friendly criticism and 
constructive supervision. 

In this period children should feel that they are at 
liberty to ask questions, consult the dictionary or ver- 
ify facts in any textbook to which they can have 
access. It is a grave error to deny to a class the very 

ii6 



THE CORRECTION OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 

privileges that we ourselves take in our own written 
work. The child who asks the teacher whether one 
says, ^'None of them are" or "None of them is"; or 
whether /'principal' ' is correct in the expression, "The 
principle which explains the workings of the magnet," 
shows promise and healthy development. He has 
reached a point in his linguistic growth where it ac- 
tually makes a difference to him whether his form is 
correct or not. Most pupils are in a state of sublime 
indifference to the laws of language and to the un- 
reasonable demands of our unphonetic spelling. The 
teacher need not answer the pupil directly. The child 
who wants to know the spelling of "emancipation" is 
asked to suggest the first two syllables. After he offers 
"e, man," he is told to look for the remainder of the 
word in the dictionary. Such questions as, "When 

was the Battle of fought," or "What was the 

name of the general who ... " etc., can be an- 
swered by "Look for the name in the index of your 
history textbook." But where a direct and didactic 
answer must be given, it should be offered in the 
earnest spirit which prompts the child. Questions that 
are asked merely for the sake of asking questions must 
be treated in a manner designed to hastily discourage 
the offender. 

Cautions in Written Composition. — Experience 
shows a few common errors in the conduct of the 
written composition period that need guarding, for 
they are frequent pitfalls for the unwary. We must, 
at all times, make a sharp distinction between "com- 
position" and "penmanship." All written work must 

117 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

always show care, accuracy, neatness and earnest en- 
deavor to produce results on the highest level that 
the child can attain. But the desire for good pen- 
manship, for "a fine-looking lot of compositions," 
must not befog our conception of "composition" as an 
expressional exercise in which penmanship and tech- 
nique of language must be duly subordinated. When 
school authorities require that the written composi- 
tion be a polished result, perfect in penmanship, spell- 
ing and punctuation, it is wise to let the children write 
their compositions in the rough with all conscious 
interest on the expressional side of their tasks. This 
is the freest possible expression. In a later period 
each child rereads his composition, corrects it In ways 
that his calmer and more critical judgment may 
dictate and then commits the final effort to paper. 
But we must not fail to realize that this is a pe- 
riod of penmanship rather than composition which 
is given as an expedient when school regulations 
place undue emphasis on form rather than on con- 
tent. 

Children's compositions should be kept within rea- 
sonable limits. In the fifth and sixth years, they 
vshould not extend beyond one and one-quarter pages 
of the regular six-by-nine paper usually used in the 
schools ; in the last two years the maximum should be 
about one and one-half pages. Long and discursive 
exercises have serious limitations. They tend to in- 
crease the number of errors, to make difficult the reg- 
ular correction of composition and to produce extreme 
carelessness. Few children are capable of maintain- 

ii8 



THE CORRECTION OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 

ing a uniformly high standard of efficiency in a long 
effort. 

But little need be said of the teacher's supervisory 
rather than instructional function in this period, if 
composition is taught by a group system which uses 
the same method, and sets the same pace, for only 
those children who are of like ability, and which tries 
to raise the language level of each child by meeting 
personal needs and individual weaknesses. The group 
method would continue the instructional task of the 
teacher by keeping one set of pupils busy writing while 
the other would be receiving its oral drill and 
explanations. 

THE PERIOD OF COERECTION 

Correction of written work in its fullest and 
ugliest sense is one of the banes of the teacher's life. 
There is so much of it that it is completely over- 
whelming. The results are most discouraging for the 
round of irritating errors appears and reappears de- 
spite the untold drudgery of constant correction. The 
vital problem in correction of written work is hence 
twofold: (i) how to reduce the onerousness of the 
burden, and (2) how to make the work more telling 
and productive of greater results. These two pressing' 
needs must be met by a sound method. 

Objects of Correction. — But before we attempt to in- 
dicate a method we must formulate definitely the 
reasons for correcting class work. Teachers are re- 
quired to go through the tedium of correction, first, 
because there is the need of acquainting the child with 

119 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

his error and the cause of it so that he will be able to 
correct the incorrect form on his own initiative. Sec- 
ondly, it is hoped that by dint of repetition teachers 
will inculcate in each child a habit of self-criticism so 
that he will examine critically all that he writes and 
change it in accordance with his better judgment and 
in the light of what his language lessons teach him. 

The Time for Correction. — Much ado is often made 
about the question, "When shall we correct?" Any 
answer will suffice, for the question is more or less 
useless. Let the teacher warn the children against 
possible errors if they can be anticipated with any 
degree of certainty. On the other hand, the correc- 
tions may be made during the writing of the compo- 
sitions, if we feel certain that this interference will 
not curb the expressional tendencies of the children. 
From the very nature of the case we can readily real- 
ize that the bulk of the corrections must be made after 
the compositions have been written. But at all times 
we must bear one important caution in mind, viz., that 
the corrections must never become too minute, lest 
children become ultra self-conscious. With their limi- 
tations constantly confronting them, they fear to write 
as freely, as fully and as enthusiastically as they feel 
about their subject and the result lacks the life and the 
zest that characterize good compositions. 

Incorrect Method. — Before suggesting a method of 
correcting written work we must note, in passing, cer- 
tain very common though incorrect procedures which 
must be avoided, for they defeat the twofold object 
that governs all correction. One of these is the 

120 



THE CORRECTION OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 

method pursued by teachers who have too strong a 
sense of responsibility and are therefore prompted to 
do too much for their pupils. The compositions are 
taken home, read by the teachers and with the aid of 
pen and red ink, the children's efforts are slashed 
most ruthlessly and the correct forms indicated. In 
the next period the child receives his composition — a 
veritable labyrinth of red lines. For example, king 
Edward has a line under the small k with a capital 
above it and a small ''c" underneath. The child looks 
up at a complex chart of queer symbols and learns 
that the ''c" advises him to make a capital. The word 
akward is underlined and marked ''sp." The chart 
tells him that he has made a mistake in spelling. If 
he has no dictionary, he asks the teacher for the cor- 
rect form. The next sentence has a two-legged "p" 
with its face turned the wrong way or a large "s" 
which indicates where to begin a new sentence. The 
mystic chart tells him that he has offended by vio- 
lating paragraph unity or sentence structure. A new 
sheet of paper is now given him and the child begins 
to transcribe his composition. He carries out the red 
ink warnings, makes the new paragraph or the sen- 
tence, writes king with a capital, awkzuard with two 
"w's" in the right places; never questions the ''why" 
or the ''wherefore" for he has full confidence in the 
teacher. What are the inevitable results? The next 
composition finds the same errors of paragraph unity 
and sentence structure. Queen Elisabeth is written 
queen Elisabeth, etc. Because the child did not learn 
the cause of his errors, he is as helpless as heretofore. 

121 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

He obeys slavishly the arbitrary dictates of the red 
ink, and does not acquire habits of self -correction. In 
the light of the two aims that were set up as stand- 
ards, this method fails woefully despite the conscien- 
tious effort and the weary drudgery of the teacher. 

Tlie Method of Correcting Written Work. — A peda- 
gogical method of correcting written work requires 
that the teacher read the compositions but refrain from 
putting any marks of correction on them. While the 
children are writing, the teacher can read their com- 
positions over their shoulders and make note of such 
general errors or class mistakes as merit class study 
and attention. In this way a number of the composi- 
tions are read. The remaining ones are read after 
class hours, and the common errors noted in the 
teacher's book. It is imperative that the teacher re- 
frain from marking them. The time now spent is in- 
significant in comparison with the old method. These 
typical errors are now embodied in a composition and 
the result is put on the board to be taken up in the 
period for correction. The children are made to un- 
derstand that the faulty work on the board is a com- 
posite of their common errors. 

Elicit the mistakes from the pupils, then through 
questions and suggestions lead them to see the reason 
that explains why the form is wrong. The first in- 
accurate sentence on the board is "Jc>hn, with his dog, 
are in the room." The teacher appeals to their 
knowledge of grammar, and asks such questions as 
*What is the subject? the predicate? the rule of agree- 
ment? What are the modifiers?" If for some reason, 

122 



THE CORRECTION OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 

answers to these cannot be obtained from the chil- 
dren, a direct explanation is given and the reason for 
the inaccuracy is stated by the teacher. The children 
are then called upon for the correction of the sentence. 
Under no circumstances should the teacher offer the 
correct form, for the aim of the lesson and the test of 
comprehension are both defeated. In this way each 
general error on the board is taken up, discussed, and 
corrected by the pupils. When this work is completed, 
the children read their own compositions with great 
care and look for such typical errors, which they un- 
derline and correct. 

In this work a few minor cautions are necessary: 
(i) The corrections on compositions written in ink 
should be made with a different colored ink or lead 
pencil, for if the same colored ink is used, the chil- 
dren's minds become occupied with the problem of 
how to correct surreptitiously; an "e" is filled up and 
dotted to become an "i," a small ''s" has its head en- 
larged to become a capital letter, and the like — prac- 
tices which take attention away from the main issue, 
the comprehension of the cause of error and the in- 
terest in self-correction. (2) Let the children under- 
line each error with ruler and pencil, and refrain from 
indicating by a confusion of symbols what literary 
sin they have committed. These symbols cannot an- 
ticipate every possible error that children in their ig- 
norance can perpetrate. The period is often wasted 
with questions of the type, "I put in double quotation 
marks where I should have had single ones ; how shall 
I mark it?'* etc. A line under each error ought to 

123 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

suffice. (3) It IS important that children look for only- 
one or two typical errors at a time. To ask them to 
read their compositions and correct in the one reading 
all their errors is too big a task for them. In the re- 
sulting diffusion of attention, they overlook flagrant 
mistakes and neglect important corrections. (4) We 
must stimulate them to set to this task with spirit and 
avidity. They naturally fear to bring out all their 
errors prominently. Hence we must put a premium on 
correction. Let them feel that all errors corrected are 
excused; all uncorrected, count doubly against them. 
In this way we reduce the teacher's burden, lead the 
children to see their errors and note the cause, and 
to develop habits of self-criticism. 

Seeming Limitations of the Method. — But it may be 
argued that there are serious limitations to this meth- 
od. To begin with, not all errors will be corrected. 
This imputation is true, but it is better to have some 
of the errors corrected and feel that an effective effort 
has been made to undermine them than to correct them 
all only to be chagrined by their unwelcome reappear- 
ance in the next composition period. A second criti- 
cism that can in all justice be urged is that in such a 
method all typical errors will be eliminated and per- 
haps eradicated, but how will those errors that are. pe- 
culiar and personal to each child be brought out and 
corrected? To reach the child's personal limitations 
and incorrect forms, this method must be supple- 
mented in a number of ways. Let us consider them. 

Eliminating Individual Errors: i. Each Composi- 
tion to he Read by a Critic. — The first means that we 

124 



THE CORRECTION OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 

have of undermining those peculiar errors that are 
made by each child is to arrange to have each com- 
position read by a critic. We have all seen evidences 
of the children's desire to read one another's compo- 
sitions. Exchanges are constantly going on behind 
the teacher's back if such a practice is foolishly for- 
bidden. Such a desire can be utilized for educational 
ends. Just as soon as the teacher knows her pupils 
she can group them by two's and have each child act 
as an assigned critic of his classmate. Thus, a child 
who writes good compositions is made the critic of 
one whose work is below grade. The former can re- 
ceive little constructive criticism from any of his class- 
mates; the latter can gather a great deal of helpful 
advice from the assigned critic. The teacher must 
direct the critics' efforts along certain lines by hang- 
ing a large cardboard in some conspicuous place, con- 
taining these directions: 



Critics Look for : 

1. Paragraph Unity and Structure. 

2. Sentences — 

(a) Capitalization. 

(b) Subject and Predicate. 

(c) "and" habit. 

3. Punctuation, Spelling, Capitalization. 



Each critic reads the composition three times, each 
time for one specific error. To add to the serious- 
ness and the dignity of the task, each critic must sign 

125 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

his name and pin his criticisms to the original compo- 
sition. In marking compositions, the teacher should 
rate the critic as well as the writer of the composition. 
The compositions are then returned and each child 
reads the critic's suggestions, carrying out such direc- 
tions as appeal to him, and verifying the doubtful ones 
by reference to textbook or to the teacher. Where 
class discipline is properly organized, children are al- 
lowed to sit together, to discuss their compositions, 
and decide on the final corrections. However, those 
whose ideas of discipline call for deathlike stillness, 
with a repressive silence and military responses, may 
shrink from such a suggestion. In this form of cor- 
rection, children take pride in offering good correc- 
tions and in bringing compositions to their critics that 
have as few mistakes as possible ; they are at all times 
kept active learning the art of self-criticism. 

2. Compositions Criticised by the Class. — A sec- 
ond supplementary device to detect personal errors and 
shortcomings is the common exercise of having the 
class criticize the compositions of individuals. To 
elicit criticism that is direct and pointed, the children 
should be trained to listen intelligently by having a 
chart similar to the one mentioned before in front of 
the class, and requiring "Group I" to listen for para- 
graph unity and sentence structure, "Group 11" for 
grammatical correctness, and "Group III" for begin- 
nings, endings, kind of facts, etc. In this way much 
of the stupid criticism that is often made by children 
can be eliminated. The class should be encouraged to 
point out commendable efforts so that the child who 

126 



THE CORRECTION OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 

reads his composition does not feel that he is running 
the gantlet of adverse criticism. It is also advisable 
to allow a child to answer his critics and to defend his 
stand if he is not willing to accept the criticisms that 
are too freely offered by the thoughtless. 

3. Personal Correction and Criticism by the 
Teacher. — A third supplementary aid to help each 
child overcome his own personal pecuharities is to 
have the teacher give his personal attention to each 
composition. The task is not only colossal, but when 
carried out in the usual manner is, as we have seen, 
devoid of results. Hence the teacher should take only 
one-third or one-fourth of the whole set of composi- 
tions each week, the following week the second third 
or the second quarter, etc., until every member of the 
class has received the benefit of the teacher's criticism. 
But it must be remembered that each composition 
must be read with the child, the error pointed out, and 
its cause explained, but the pupil himself must indi- 
cate the correct form. No mark is made on the com- 
position that the child does not personally dictate. 
One-third or one-fourth of a large class would rarely 
give a teacher more than twelve or fourteen composi- 
tions a week. The children can meet the teacher In 
personal conference before school hours, during study 
periods, or for a few moments after sessions. In this 
way the teacher is not overwhelmed by a task that 
saps energy and vitality, the children learn the cause 
of their errors, habits of self-correction are engen- 
dered, and positive and effective steps are taken to im- 
prove standards of expression. 

127 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

How Shall the Class Work Be Kept ?— When the work 
is completed, how shall it be kept? Surel}^ not 
in the altogether too prevalent form in which papers 
of the whole class are collected, fastened tight, 
adorned with ribbons and elaborate title pages, and 
hidden in the dark recesses of a closet to await the criti- 
cal eye of principal or superintendent. These compo- 
sitions must be kept in individual envelopes or in note- 
books so that each child has a cumulative result. At a 
moment's notice the teacher must be able to see a child's 
progress or retrogression. The children like this meth- 
od better, for the pride of ownership and evidences of 
tasks accomplished are always sources of keen pleas- 
ure. 

The Rewriting of Corrected Compositions. — The final 
consideration in the matter of correcting compositions 
is the problem of rewriting compositions. Not many 
years ago, the unanimous verdict was, ''All composi- 
tions must be rewritten." To-day the camp is divided. 
Many insist that compositions should never be rewrit- 
ten. Their many arguments, when summed up, re- 
duce themselves to the following: (i) Time is lav- 
ishly spent in an exercise that is a matter of penman- 
ship rather than of composition. (2) The period is 
dull since it is at best a stupid repetition, a mechanical 
transcription. (3) Such lessons have a deadening ef- 
fect upon future compositions since no joy is experi- 
enced in this kind of expression. 

The opponents insist on rewriting, for they argue 
that in real life the first draft is generally not the 
final one. We rewrite as a result of self-criticism of 

128 



THE CORRECTION OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 

the first effort. Second, the habit to polish, to modify, 
and to correct an initial effort is well worth acquiring. 
Third, the final rewritten form leaves a good impres- 
sion upon the child's mind. 

Each side has legitimate claims and a pedagogical 
basis but nevertheless suffers from the excesses of an 
extreme point of view. A moderate policy counsels 
that compositions should never be rewritten for the 
sake of improved penmanship nor at regular periods, 
like once a fortnight or once a week. All rewriting 
should spring from a desire on the part of the children 
to have an opportunity to improve an unsuccessful 
first attempt. For purposes of illustration we may 
assume that a composition was written and the model 
was studied afterward for comparison and correction. 
The children now realize how far from the mark they 
hit, how much better they could do if a second trial 
were allowed them. If this is the feeling that pre- 
vails, the children should be permitted to rewrite their 
unsuccessful compositions. This second exercise is 
alive and spirited, for it is actuated by strong motive 
power and earnest conviction. 



SUGGESTED READING 

The suggested reading for this chapter will be found 
at the end of Chapter VIII. 



CHAPTER VIII 
HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

Introduction. — The concluding chapter on the teach- 
ing of composition asks how life and enthusiasm can 
be introduced into the varied expressional lessons of 
the elementary school, because children generally feel 
that these are routine drills, devoid of all interest and 
giving no pleasure. They experience little exhilara- 
tion but much fatiguing effort because teachers neg- 
lect the basic tenet that was laid down at the begin- 
ning of this discussion, viz., ''The play spirit must 
characterize the art of composition, for all art was 
conceived in a play spirit." We must now turn to a 
series of miscellaneous suggestions that seek to vital- 
ize composition and infuse into it this play spirit of 
art. 

i. Greater Emphasis on Letters. — Compositions m 
essay form usually lack the naturalness of letters ; they 
are as stiff and stilted as our own high-school and col- 
lege essays used to be. The reason, in the main, seems 
to be that the child sees no use for the composition 
form just as we saw no use and felt no need for the 
essays imposed upon us. But a letter stands out as a 
form of communication that is essentially useful, prac- 
tical, and personal; these attributes give it spirit and 

130 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

Interest. An examination of the term's work in ele- 
mentary classes reveals a surprising preponderance of 
the essay form. It is evident that the usual ratio of 
three essays to one letter each school month must be 
changed to at least two letters and two essays. 

2. The Correspondence Should Treat of Actual Affairs 
of Real Life. — If letter forms are to be emphasized, we 
must eliminate at once such letters as are letters in 
form only and essays in spirit. One may write to a 
cousin, as is so often done in the classroom, about 
"How people live in China," or "How the Battle of 
Bunker Hill was fought," and use the proper form, 
arrangement, superscription, salutation, etc., but he 
is, nevertheless, sending an essay, not a letter. A 
recent publication much used by teachers suggests the 
following "Subjects for Letters" : "Imagine you live in 
Honolulu; write to a brother telling of the people, 
their life, occupations, etc." "Write to your uncle on 
what you think of a book." "You just returned from 
a visit to your cousin in New Orleans ; write him about 
the return trip." "Write a letter describing your im- 
aginary visit to the South." "Write a letter telling 
how you spent your last vacation." "Write a letter 
telling your aims in life." These are a few of numer- 
ous suggestions, all violating our cardinal dictum 
which holds that a letter is a personal expression on 
a personal theme rather than a general expression or 
an artificial literary effusion. 

Select titles like the following : "Letter complaining 
that inferior goods were sent by a department store, 
and the answer"; "Letter of application, and the an- 

131 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

swers: (a) acceptance, (b) rejection"; "Letter of 
apology for a business error" ; "Letter of introduc- 
tion"; "Letter asking for an advertisement for the 
school paper"; "Letter challenging another class to 
a contest"; "Letter to a hotel asking for summer 
rates" ; "Letter to a summer camp asking for terms" ; 
"Letter to the Association for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals asking that the authorities send 
for a homeless cat"; "Letter to the Board of Health 
complaining of some source of contagion," etc. In all 
cases the child should be required to write the answers 
also. Because these relations and affairs necessitate 
correspondence in actual life, they must be the topics 
for the letters in the schoolroom. 

3. The Correspondence Itself Should Be Real. — ^Not 
only should the theme of the letters reflect real life and 
human relations, but the form of the correspondence 
should be made as actual as possible. In the workaday 
world one writes because he is actuated by two condi- 
tions: (i) He has something to say, and (2) he has 
someone to whom to say it. In school, children usual- 
ly write because they must say something; what they 
say is stored in the teacher's desk in neat packages. It 
is evident that classroom correspondence must be ac- 
tualized by having it addressed to a real person who 
will read and answer it. The letter asking for an ad- 
vertisement in the school paper should be addressed 
to one's permanent critic, who reads it and answers it. 
The exchange of letters actually takes place. This 
means life and spirit, for the letter is real, it bears a 
living message, and brings the coveted answer. Every 

132 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

opportunity should be seized upon to make classroom 
correspondence real and urgent. Children should write 
letters to their teachers when they have a complaint to 
register or when they seek advice. If a member of the 
class is sick, or is at home because he has lost a mem- 
ber of his family, notes of sympathy should be writ- 
ten and the best ones sent. If teachers keep watching 
for such opportunities, they will find innumerable ones 
arising in the course of ordinary routine during the 
term. 

4. The Class Journal with Its Board of Editors Elected 
or Selected. — A class journal can be organized in the 
sixth, seventh, and eighth years. A board of editors 
of three or five is appointed by the teacher or elected 
by the children. This board is directed by the teacher 
and brings out an issue at regular intervals of about a 
fortnight. The journal is of simple construction and 
can be mimeographed so that each member of the class 
receives his personal copy. The editors read each 
week's compositions and select the best three or four 
for reproduction in the class journal. They post no- 
tices on the class bulletin boards calling for original 
stories, anecdotes, timely clippings, appropriate per- 
sonals, and the like. They write up interesting class- 
room incidents, summarize school athletics, give the 
news of the class teams, hold contests for the best 
short story — in a word, contribute to the life and spirit 
of the class. 

Such a journal can be made an agent of untold 
value. There are a number of pupils in each class who 
like to read, who do read, whose imagination is rich 

133 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

with interesting inventions but who have no motive 
and no reason for giving expression to these through 
writing. The journal draws them out and produces 
surprises for the teacher. It is also a means of re- 
veaHng the true natures of some children to their 
teachers. Because a child is not proficient in the work 
of the grade, he is judged stupid. But his contribu- 
tions to the class journal may reveal a sense of humor, 
an originality, a fund of common-sense, and practical 
judgment which will stand him in good stead in later 
years. These revelations offer most agreeable sur- 
prises. Such a journal will also make for greater 
class solidarity; it creates good class spirit, acts as a 
wholesome spur toward better compositions, for chil- 
dren strive to be selected for the editorial board and 
to have their compositions reprinted in the issues of 
the paper. 

5. TJse Debatable Topics. — Debatable topics should 
be used with greater frequency, for they meet with 
much favor among the children. They are popular 
because — if well chosen — they give the child an oppor- 
tunity to express his personal preference. Hence we 
must be sure to select a topic that reflects the child's 
life and desires, his point of view, his yearnings. The 
following list of topics urged in a standard book much 
used in elementary grades cannot receive unqualified 
indorsement : ''Physical Training Should Be Compul- 
sory in Public Schools," "Woman Suffrage," "The 
Civil-Service System Should Be Abolished," "The 
Term of the Supreme Court Judge Should Be Lim- 
ited," "Canada Should Be Annexed to the United 

134 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

States." A more appropriate series of topics would 
be: ''Resolved, That We Have a School Paper"; 
''Resolved, That We Have a School City" ; "Resolved, 
That the Girls Should Vote in the School City" ; "Re- 
solved, That Examinations Be Abolished" ; "Resolved, 
That John Brown Was Not Justified in His Actions" ; 
"Resolved, That the Fireman Is More Useful than the 
PoHceman, or the Nurse than the Teacher," etc. 

The children should be allowed to take sides; an 
advocate of the negative should be declared a partner 
of a sponsor for the affirmative, and should be re- 
quired to exchange his composition with him. The 
succeeding composition lesson should continue the 
same subject so that each child has an opportunity to 
answer his opponent. The results, when the topic is 
appropriately chosen, are most satisfactory because the 
two governing motives which prompt natural expres- 
sion are present, viz., the children have something to 
say and they are addressing their views to some defi- 
nite person who will read them. Enthusiasm and 
pleasure are guaranteed to the children in such work. 

6. Aim at Variety of Form and Content. — An exam- 
ination of a term's compositions usually reveals one 
marked Hmitation — there is woeful lack of variety of 
form and content in them. If one were to check up 
the titles of these compositions, he would find that 
biographies lead by a large margin. When in doubt 
as to a subject, a teacher usually selects a character 
about whom the children have read in history or litera- 
ture and tries to make him yield the inspiration for 
the week's composition. These biographies are simple 

135 



2. Imaginative Incident 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

to write, for these persons were all born, lived their 
eventful lives, and then died, thus affording an obvi- 
ous sequence and a stereotyped organization. There is 
no reason why we should lack variety of subject-mat- 
ter if we consider the many possibilities that are at 
hand. 

The outline here given suggests types of composi- 
tions appropriate for the range of grades in the ele- 
mentary school : 

I. Narration — 

T, . . -fa. Story Read or Told 
I. Reproduction of -^ , t -i . ^tt- i 

[b. Incident Witnessed 

a. Personal Anecdote, 
Humorous 

b. Serious Story, 
Result of Child's 
Imagination 

The following compositions are types of imag- 
inative incidents taken from the work of school 
children. They are quoted not because of unusual 
merit but rather because they are typical of the humor 
and the tragedy that most children feel and can ex- 
press. 

The Expected Guest 

On Monday afternoon my uncle from Boston was ex- 
pected to pay us a visit. I had never seen him, because he 
had not visited us for fifteen years. We occupied a flat in 
the house situated in the upper part of Manhattan, and 
mother and I were alone. 

At about two o'clock the bell rang and I answered the 

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HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

door. A man entered and inquired if Mrs. Green was at 
home. I replied, very politely, "Yes, sir; walk right into 
the parlor and sit down. Mother will be in in a minute." 

Then going to the kitchen where my mother was, I said 
to her, "Mother, uncle is in the parlor." So she slipped off 
her apron and went in. As she came near the door the 
man arose and said, "Madam, I would like you to try a new 
brand of coffee which I am advertising, and if you like I 
will leave a sample with you and call to-morrow for your 
order." My mother did not feel like ordering coffee that 
day because she was sadly disappointed. But we had a good 
laugh, and about nine o'clock that evening my uncle arrived. 

A Daring Rescue 

On the evening of November 22nd I was seated in my 
father's store writing a composition, when I was disturbed 
by a great hullabaloo outside. Whenever I am occupied in 
this way the least disturbance irritates me. So, throwing 
aside my work, I ran to the door to find out the cause of the 
disturbance. 

I was horror stricken at the sight which met my gaze. 
The whole street was lighted up with a red glow. Glancing 
up at a house nearby, I saw flames belching forth from a 
first-story window. A great crowd of furious people had 
been attracted to the spot and the street was crowded. Some 
daring boys had climbed up the fire-escape and one of them 
had muffled a blanket around his face and had gone into the 
burning flat. He immediately withdrew and in his hand he 
clutched a chair. He was just giving it a final tug when he 
was overcome by the pungent smoke. He hurled the chair 
back and ran down into the street, closely followed by the 
other boys. 

The sea of expectant faces was suddenly turned upward. 
For on the top floor, the figure of a girl was seen standing 
on the window-sill ready to jump. The flames could never 
have reached that height, but the girl had probably been 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

crazed by fear, and had acted upon the impulse of the mo- 
ment. "Would nobody stop her ?" I kept repeating to myself. 
To jump would be fatal. One of the men in the crowd had 
courage enough to climb swiftly up the fire-escapes. He 
reached her just in the nick of time. Bidding her be brave, 
he gripped her around the waist and cautiously climbed 
along the narrow ledge to the opposite window, where the 
fire-escape was situated. Their forms were plainly silhou- 
etted against the white wall of the building. Every neck in 
the crowd was craned upward. The girl had now collapsed 
and the burden was entirely upon the man. He descended 
slowly, oh, so slowly, until he reached the first floor where 
the flames were snarling, hissing, and crackling from the 
window. He paused a moment ! Would he falter after 
having gone so far? Gathering all his remaining strength 
in one last effort, he made a desperate spurt into the very 
heart of the flames, and just when his strength was desert- 
ing him a fireman snatched the girl from his now feeble 
arms and lowered her down to a waiting comrade below. 
For meanwhile the firemen had arrived. The girl and her 
rescuer were badly scorched and they were both carried 
to a neighboring drug store. 

At this stage the fire was at its height. The flames had 
burst through the ceiling into the flat above. The owner 
of the burning flat, who occupied a store directly below it, 
was crying piteously, for, said he, "My wife and baby are 
above." With difficulty he was assured that they were safe. 
Meanwhile the firemen were exerting every effort and soon 
had the fire under control. 

Not a pin was saved from the ruins after the fire. But 
what is of more importance no lives were lost. The follow- 
ing day the papers had a thrilling account of how "A driver 
at the risk of his life saves a girl of eighteen." 

II. Description. — A descriptive composition may 
vary considerably so that the child never realizes that 

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HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

he is writing the same literary form, for it may be a 
description of a place, of a person, or of a thing. But 
in all description we should bear in mind the fact that 
the child is not interested in writing a description 
merely for the sake of description, merely to give to 
someone a rich, detailed picture which he himself sees. 
Every description that is written in the elementary 
school should have either a personal touch or a story 
element in it ; it must always be a description for some 
definite purpose; to give the setting of a story, a pic- 
ture of the main character in an incident, or the like. 
A child's language stock is too poor to enable him to 
indulge in description freely, and to give a vivid im- 
pression of characteristic details merely through the 
use of rich color words and suggestive phrases. In 
describing a person the child must be made to realize 
that he can give us a picture of the person by telling 
what the character does and says as well as by giving 
an enumeration of the distinguishing features. What 
is meant by having children write description with 
a personal touch or a story element, can perhaps 
best be seen from an analysis of concrete illustra- 
tions. 

Illustration A. A boy is about to start out from a 
country town to try his fortune in the city. De- 
scribe him. 
Illustration B. "Der kleine Johannes" — Descrip- 
tion of a lake. Its beauty and splendor tempt 
Johannes to row in the boat, in violation of his 
mother's commands. 
Illustration C. My Classmate. 

139 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

My Classmate 

On coming into the classroom every morning it is a 
habit of mine to glance at a certain individual whose antics 
are quite amusing. There are very few characters in our 
class whose descriptions would be as interesting as that of 
my hero's. 

He is as tall as the average fifteen-year-old boy. Per- 
haps not many peculiarities as to traits can be seen unless 
he is closely watched. He has a kindly disposition and is 
at peace with all. The mention of black hair, dark brown 
eyes, prominent nose and rather thin features will suffice for 
a description of his appearance. One of his chief character- 
istics is modesty. Of course he knows grammar, but when 
he gets up to recite he misses because being so modest he is 
satisfied that somebody else should get the glory. Many 
times in the different rooms of the departmental section, 
he can be seen gazing out of the window, watching the 
clouds as they sail gracefully by. I remember distinctly on 
one occasion, while he was in one of his favorite reveries, 
I arose to read a composition about a diamond necklace 
valued at $10,000. At the mention of such an enormous 
sum of money his eyes grew as large as saucers, his mouth 
expanded to twice its natural size, and his face was aglow 
with excitement. So noticeable was this that the teacher on 
seeing it remarked, "Master X has really awakened." 

I might relate some more very interesting incidents re- 
garding him but I am afraid my narrative may become 
tedious. Hoping the one of whom I write will not in any 
way be offended, as I have tried hard to say nothing that 
would embarrass him, I will close feeling certain that my 
description has not been in vain. 

Pupil in 8A Grade. 

Illustration D. The Beggar. Turgenieff : "Dream 

Tales," 

140 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

The Beggar 

I was walking along the street. ... I was stopped by a 
decrepit old beggar. 

Bloodshot, tearful eyes, blue lips, coarse rags, festering 
wounds. . . . Oh, how hideously poverty had eaten into 
this miserable creature ! 

He held out to me a red, swollen, filthy hand. He 
groaned, he mumbled of help. 

I began feeling in all my pockets. . . . No purse, no 
watch, not even a handkerchief. ... I had taken nothing 
with me. And the beggar was still waiting. . . . And his 
outstretched hand feebly shook and trembled. 

Confused, abashed, I warmly clasped the filthy, shaking 
hand. . . . "Don't be angry, brother; I have nothing, 
brother." 

The beggar stared at me with his bloodshot eyes. His 
blue lips smiled; and he in his turn gripped my chilly 
fingers. 

"What of it, brother?" he mumbled; "thanks for this too. 
That is a gift too, brother." 

I knew that I too had received a gift from my brother. 

III. Exposition. — The next form that composi- 
tion may take is the expository one. But here, too, it 
must be remembered that in the question of form vs. 
content, form always proves — to the child — to be 
less interesting. The teacher must make sure of a 
fitting content, hence children should not be required 
to write expository compositions merely for the sake 
of learning the technical requisites of literary exposi- 
tion. There must be a personal element, and an in- 
dividual expression throughout the essay. From this 
point of view, models like the following are poor, for 

141 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

in the final analysis they have no reason for being and 
are expository merely for the sake of expounding. 

How TO Play Ping-Pong 

Ping-pong is a game played by men, women and children. 
A light, hollow ball, a pair of rackets, a net and a table are 
needed. Boys often use small boards and a cloth stretched 
across a table, but grown-up people use regulation tables and 
rackets. 

The game is like tennis. Since it is played on a table, 
it is often called table-tennis. The first player serves the 
ball. If he fails to "place" it properly, the count is against 
him. Should he "place" the ball within the correct space, 
the second player must hit it with his racket. The object is 
to keep hitting it and sending it within the proper lines. The 
player who has the highest count wins. The system of 
points is the same as that used in tennis. 

How A Canal Lock Works 

A person who has never traveled on a canal is always 
interested in the operation of the locks. A lock is a struc- 
ture in a canal that is designed to raise boats from a low 
level to a higher one or vice versa. Since the land through 
which a canal flows is not absolutely level, it becomes nec- 
essary to raise or lower a boat with the changing height 
of the water. 

The lock has two strong gates across the canal. These 
separate the two levels of water. When a boat comes to the 
lock from the low level, the gate is opened and it is allowed 
to enter. The gate is then shut and the boat is inclosed 
between the two gates. The second gate is then opened, and 
the water from the higher level gradually runs in. The 
boat is raised slowly. When the gate is opened wide, the 
water in the lock is the same height as the higher level in 

142 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

the canal. The boat is then pulled out of the lock and 
proceeds on its way. 

Teachers' manuals on the teaching of composition 
are replete with expositions of this type, excerpts 
that give a list of impersonal directions, written, as 
far as the child is concerned, for no other purpose 
than to illustrate technicalities of formal language 
No worth-while effort by the child can find its impulse 
in the indifference which such models arouse. 

How can one add the personal touch and introduce 
motive in the exposition written by school pupils ? An 
analysis of the following essay written by a 7A boy 
may give the answer: 

His First Swimming Lesson 

My last summer was not the happiest one of my life for 
not many weeks had passed before I broke my leg in a bad 
fall down the stairs. It was difficult indeed for me to get 
about with my clumsy crutches and my foot in plaster. The 
day was hot and I felt that I would enjoy the cool breezes 
of the East River. I therefore hobbled over on my crutches 
to the dock which is only three blocks from my house. 

I had not been there very long when one of the boys who 
was carelessly jumping from one canal boat to another and 
from one raft to another, slipped and fell in. By the terrible 
struggle to grasp the raft I saw he could not swim. Had 
I been well I could have saved him. But with my bandaged 
leg I could do nothing. I rushed to the end of the pier as 
well as I could. By this time the lad luckily grasped a 
loose board. As he held on I shouted my directions to him. 

I told him to fill his lungs with a deep breath and hold 
his head above water. As soon as he did this I advised him 

143 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

to kick with his legs and push the board in the direction of 
the raft. He tried it but was too excited to do it right. 
I then told him to push the board under his arms to be sure 
of support. He did it. I then began the arm movement, 
hands together, all the way out, palms turned out and each 
arm pushing through the water in a semicircle until the 
palms touch, then push hands out again. He did as he saw 
me do and covered a short distance. I then shouted to him 
to keep his legs working. Just then a swell of a passing 
boat pushed him with some force and he reached the raft. 
It was an exciting day but even if I did not save the 
careless boy, I gave him his first lesson in swimming. 

The feeling one gets on reading this child's effort is 
that the exposition of the swimming strokes is not 
forced ; it is not written because he was trying to carry 
out the set formula for this special form of composi- 
tion. Its setting is natural, its context is real, its ex- 
planations are spontaneous, and its very expression 
intensely personal. The following list of topics may 
give added illustrations of how to introduce a personal 
note in exposition in order to produce more spirited 
and lifelike results : 

"The Boy on the Coaching Line Advising the Play- 
ers." 

"The Captain of the Basket-ball Team Explaining 
the Signals to His Players." 

"The Captain of the Baseball Team Giving His 
Players Instruction in 'Stealing Bases.' " 

"How I Won the Championship in the Ping-Pbng 
Tournament." 

"How I Made My Record in Tennis." 

144 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

''How I Made a Tabouret that Won My Teacher's 

Praise." 
"Why the Apron I Sewed Was Not a Success," etc. 

IV. Argumentation. — In a previous connection, 
necessary cautions, suggestions, and a list of appro- 
priate topics for argumentation were given. Nothing 
need be added here for elementary composition. 

V. Invention. — This is a form of composition that 
finds the children most responsive, for it appeals to 
their sense of originality ; it calls for all their ingenu- 
ity and for a full and free expression of those ideas 
that crave most for utterance. It is obvious that the 
forms of inventive composition can be as varied as 
the teachers who guide the lessons and the children 
who write the final product. The forms most fre- 
quently used are: 

A. Imaginary Conversations. — The success of 
these compositions is determined primarily by the ap- 
propriateness of the topics selected. The following 
situations have brought uniformly good results : 

I. The Little Girl Pleading with Lincoln for Her 
Brother's Life. 

One cold, damp Sunday morning in the spring of 1863 a 
little girl was seen ascending the steps of the White House. 
She rushed past the guard at the main entrance and before 
she could be overtaken was in the large office of President 
Lincoln. The president, surprised, looked up with a start 
and then asked: 

"What can I do for you, my dear girl ?" 

"I have come to ask for a great favor." 

"To plead for your rebel father, I suppose." 

145 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

"No, sir, for my brother, John." 

"A rebel who should be freed for shooting his northern 
countrymen, I suppose." 

"No, sir, he is a loyal supporter of his country's flag." 

"Then why come here to plead for him?" 

"Because, sir, he fell asleep while on sentinel duty. For 
eighteen hours he fought bravely with his regiment and 
helped win the battle. When the fighting was over, he was 
put in the first batch of sentinels. He is not strong, he is 
young, only eighteen. He trotted up and down and, before 
he knew it, he was asleep at his post. He was caught and 
is sentenced to be shot." 

"His offense is a grave one indeed," said the President, 
"but so brave a boy and the brother of such a sister can be 
of greater service above ground than under it. Go home, 
you have saved your brother." 

In her great joy the little girl rushed from the office 
without stopping to thank President Lincoln. 

B....A.... 6B. 

2. An Encounter with a Beggar. — The writer of 
the composition meets the beggar, who solicits aid. A 
conversation ensues in which the sad life of the beg- 
gar, the series of misfortunes, the downward path, 
etc., are brought out. 

3. The Capture of Andre. — The three patriots 
stop the inquiring stranger ; the conversation in which 
Andre raises their suspicions and finally implicates 
himself, the search, the conference among the patriots, 
the decision to bring Andre to the American com- 
mander. 

4. Columbus Before the Court of Spain. — Colum- 
bus explains his ideas and hopes, the sceptical and 
sarcastic questions of the ministers, the sympathetic 

146 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

questions of Isabella, the answers of Columbus, the 
final convincing argument, Isabella's offer of her 
jewels, etc. This topic allows for a skillful blending 
of exposition and dialogue, and for effective correla- 
tion of history and composition. 

5. Cat-and-Mouse Story. — The following effort 
by an eighth-year pupil shows a commendable result. 
It is given in full because the topic and the organiza- 
tion will readily suggest to the teacher a host of simi- 
lar situations appropriate for the needs of any class: 

An Incident 

Plump ! Bing ! Tarra-r-r ! Bang ! 

"What in the world was that?" said I, startled by the 
noises which were heard from the cellar. 

"There goes the shelf with the tin cans," answered my 
brother, turning a white face toward me. 

"I guess there must be robbers down in the cellar," said 
I, trying to look scared, although I could hardly keep from 
laughing. 

My brother looked to see if I was in earnest, but he soon 
discovered the deception, and we both laughed outright. 

"That's Tabby hunting for mice," said I, and with that 
we each took a candle and crept down to the cellar. 

The maltese cat met us with a glad "meouow," and we 
noticed that he was licking his chops in a satisfied manner. 

The Cat's Story 

"Well, you see it was this way," said the cat, when 
asked to relate the incident on the back fence to the assem- 
bly, who generally congregated for the usual evening con- 
cert. "I had been taking a nap on the trunk, when some- 
thing stepped on my tail, and, turning around, I found Mr, 

147 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Gray Ears and Mrs. White Tail sitting there and staring 
at me. With a cry I sprang toward them, but they suc- 
ceeded in scurrying away with me close at their heels, but I 
caught Mrs. White Tail. I could have caught Mr. Gray 

Ears only I did not want to eat too much, so I let " 

Wiff ! Poor Tabby toppled off the fence from the effect 
of a well-aimed shoe, which had just come from the top- 
story window of a house nearby. The audience soon dis- 
persed, and all scattered to their respective homes. 

The Mouse's Story 

"Friends, countrymen and mice, I have just passed 
through the most thrilling experience that has ever befallen 
any of our great tribe. I have met our worst foe and van- 
quished him. 

"You knew that I and Mrs. White Tail took a walk yes- 
terday. When happening to cross the wood pile I discov- 
ered the cat sleeping on the trunk. I bravely walked over 
and stepped on his tail, so he would awake. The minute 
he tried to spring at me, I rushed at him. He turned and 
was going to run away, when he saw Mrs. White Tail, 
and quickly grabbing her in his mouth he ran away. I 
pursued him, but he outdistanced me, and so I had to come 
home without poor Mrs. White Tail." 

6. On Board the Caravel. 

On Board the Caravel 

The following conversation took place between Columbus 
and his sailors in mid-ocean: 

"Where are you taking us?" shouted the sailors. 

"You are going on this journey for fame, and your 
mothers will be better off when we return," said Columbus. 
"We will never see our parents any more," replied the 
sailors sadly. "We will reach land in a few more days," 

148 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

spoke Columbus hopefully. "We will sec our death by that 
time," they shouted as they walked away towards the deck 
where other sailors were conversing secretly about their 
plans. Finally one sailor said, "Let's make him reverse the 
ship and take us home." 

"That's a good idea; his life now lies in our hands," 
said the sailors. "Who will volunteer to take the mes- 
sage?" asked the sailors doubtfully. "I will," answered 
one sailor, who was attempting to stir up a mutiny aboard 
ship. 

The sailor walking towards Columbus said, "Columbus, 
reverse the ship, and your life will be saved." 

"No; I will keep on the voyage until I discover land for 
Spain," replied Columbus angrily, yet firmly. 

"Is that your final answer," replied the sailor bitterly. 

A shrill whistle was heard and the sailors soon appeared. 
They all crowded around Columbus. 

"What does this mean ?" asked Columbus, calmly. 

"It means that you must reverse the ship, or we will throw 
you overboard." 

"I will have you put in chains when we arrive home," 
retorted Columbus coolly. "We do not care, but we will give 
you just a half-hour to think the situation over," replied the 
sailors as they left Columbus. While looking in a westerly 
direction Columbus thought he saw land; he took a pair of 
spy glasses, and, sure enough, it was land. Columbus, now 
encouraged, shouted, "Land ! Land !" 

The sailors, hearing the cry, sprang from their seats and 
rushed upon the deck toward Columbus. 

"Where is land?" asked the leader, impatiently. 

"Look for yourselves," replied Columbus, handing him the 
spy glasses. The leader looked and saw islands not far 
away. They soon reached land, where, falling on their 
knees, with their faces turned toward heaven, they prayed 
that God might protect them. 

By 8th Year Pupil, 
149 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

B. Imitation of Fables. — A second type of In- 
ventive composition that meets with popular response 
by the children is the construction of a fable in imi- 
tation of one that was studied as a model. The fable 
of ''The Wolf and the Lamb" is read and its con- 
struction noted. Similar elements are suggested and 
the children construct their own fables, e.g.j *'The 
Pike and the Minnow," "The Hen and the Worm," 
"The Pigeon and the Hawk." A fourth-year pupil in 
a foreign section of the city gave the following as his 
result : 

The Hen and the Worm 

One bright day a hen started out to find some worms' 
for her children. She right a way met a fat worm. She 
wanted to eat it, but she wanted, too, an excuse. 

"How dare you clap on my door?" said the hen. 

"How can I clap on your door, if I ain't got no hand," 
said the worm. 

"You are the loafer that bites my children," said the 
fresh hen. 

"You are wrong," said the worm, "How can I bite your 
children if I ain't got no teeth." 

"If you didn't then your brother or your father did," 
said the hen. Whereupon she bounced upon the poor worm 
and carried it away. 

A lad whose stay on our shores barely exceeded 
four months wrote on a topic all his own in trying to 
imitate the fable which tells of the rats in convention 
deciding on a plan to tie a bell on the cat's neck. The 
phase of American street life that struck him most 
inspired the following : 

150 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

The Boys and the Policeman 

One day boys was shooting crap so a policeman caught 
hime and brought to the station house. 

And when they got free thay made a meeting and said, 
what shel we do to the policeman. 

So one wise boy went up and said, we will put a bell on 
his neck. 

So another boy went up and said, who will put the bell 
on his neck? 

C. Ending a Story Whose Beginning Is Suggested 
to the Children. — This is another form of inventive 
composition the possibilities of which were discussed 
in a previous connection in Chapter IV. 

D. Personification of Inanimate Objects. — A 
fourth popular form of inventive composition is the 
autobiography of an inanimate object. While these 
topics usually prompt successful results, the teacher 
must be careful not to personify an object that means 
little or nothing to the child. The autobiography of 
an eraser, of a coffee bean, of a package of tea, etc., 
are topics that allow for much correlation, but the 
child is nevertheless indifferent to the life history of 
these articles. The object chosen for personification 
must be one that thrills the child, stirs his imagina- 
tion rather than his memory, or is at times a source of 
joy to him. The following are compositions by school 
children showing topics that were happily chosen : 

The Baseball's Story 

"I was once a proud baseball, proud of my white glisten- 
ing cover and the trade-mark so conspicuously placed on my 

151 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

head. My stitches were of the brightest red, and were so 
becoming to me that I was the most talked of person in 
our store. In fact the wagon-tongue bat lying on the shelf 
became so envious of me that he would gnash his teeth and 
would threaten that if he ever got a chance he would pay 
back the grudge he owed me. But what did I care for the 
mutterings of a miserable old bat. So the days passed on 
without any special happenings. 

"One day as I was lying on the counter in my softly 
lined box a man came in and asked our salesman if he had 
any good baseballs. I was immediately chosen. 'That one 
will do/ said the man, taking me out of my soft box and 
placing me roughly into his pocket. 'Now, I'd like to see a 
bat,' continued the man. My enemy on the shelf was 
brought out and he also was purchased. 

"I knew nothing until I felt myself being taken out of 
that hot stuffy pocket. When I beheld the light again, I 
uttered a sigh of relief. Turning around, I saw my old 
enemy, the wagon-tongue bat, grinning at me. This morti- 
fied me very much. I was then tossed to a man whom I 
had never seen before and he looked so queer in short 
trousers and striped stockings that in spite of my sadness I 
could not resist laughing at him. He took me in the palm 
of his hand and threw me so swiftly to the catcher, that I 
barely had time to catch my breath. 'Strike one,' I heard 
somebody call. One thing that attracted my attention on 
my way to the catcher was the manner in which the wagon- 
tongue was eyeing me. I was tossed to the pitcher. He 
twisted me in his fingers and curved his wrist so that I 
feared he would break it. I was again thrown, yet so 
queerly did I twist and turn that I became giddy and knew 
nothing until I found myself in the catcher's glove as before, 
and my enemy, the old wagon-tongue bat, rushing at me 
with great violence, but failing to hit me. 'Strike two,' the 
same voice cried. I was again thrown to the pitcher, who 
after twisting me in his fingers as usual delivered me. 
Crack ! Oh, my ! The wagon-tongue bat had carried out 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

his threat at last and with a terrific whack sent me speeding 
into space. 'Ha, ha !' I heard him laugh. T have caught 
you at last, proud one.' I knew nothing until I found myself 
lying here in this dark crevice. How I came here I am 
unable to say, but my opinion is that after striking the 
ground I must have rolled into this dungeon. But now 
look at me; begrimed and dirty. I, who was once so proud 
and vain, am hidden from all the world, perhaps forever." 

Brutus' Sword 

"Oh ! what a cruel life I have led," murmured a beautiful 
sword wearily, as it lay beside its dead master, the noble 
Brutus. "It seems, too, most strange, that I, praised as I 
have been, should have committed so many cruel deeds. 

"When made I was one of the handsomest of my kind. 
While admiring myself I was clutched by a hand that 
showed firmness of character. Looking up I recognized my 
new master, the noble Brutus. I was bought on the Kalends 
of March, and lived in peace until the Ide of March. But 
on that day I unwillingly undertook to do the most wretched 
deed of all. I together with fifty others of my kind, all 
with their respective masters, Cassius, Casca, Metellus, Cim- 
ber, Decius, Trebonius and others, waited on the steps of 
the Capitol ready to assassinate the ambitious Csesar. When 
Csesar had been seated the murderous Casca crept up behind 
him and plunged his sword into Caesar's body. As he did 
so, Csesar jumped and shouted aloud, but in vain, for as he 
stood a shower of daggers pierced his breast. I was among 
the last to do this awful deed and as I ran through him he 
cried to my master, 'Et tu, Brutus/ I burned for shame 
and when I was put into my scabbard I shed many a bitter 
tear. 

"My life of cruelty was not over, for after Mark Antony 
had delivered his oration, my master was pursued by the 
citizens of Rome. He fled to Philippi, where a battle took 
place. Here I was used very frequently. But still worse 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

was to come. When my master heard that Cassius was 
dead, feeling unable to face the enemy alone, he ordered 
his servant Strato to place me so that he might run against 
me and thus kill himself. Strato argued, but to no avail. 
At last he consented and now here I lie awaiting my miser- 
able fate." 

E. Imaginary Diaries. — These form another type 
of inventive exercise that brings enthusiastic responses 
from the children. The diary of a beggar, of a sol- 
dier, of a sailor, of Captain Peary at the Pole, of 
Livingstone and Stanley while on journeys in Africa, 
etc., are usually productive of gratifying results. 
These forms of invention can be multiplied to a num- 
ber limited only by the child's ingenuity and the teach- 
er's ability to conceive nev;^ situations. 

VI. Biographical Narratives. — The lives of the 
inspirational figures of literature and history supply 
some of the topics for class composition. But as v^as 
observed heretofore, these must not receive more than 
their proportional allotment of the composition pe- 
riods. In making the life history of any man the basis 
of a composition, teachers should try to avoid the 
old hackneyed sequence of birth, boyhood, manhood, 
death and lasting results of his work. The children 
should be encouraged to seek originality in the group- 
ing of the facts, and should emphasize only the one or 
two great achievements that gave the individual the 
position he occupies in the history of civilization. 
There is no reason for such complete categories of 
details and petty facts as one habitually finds in class- 
room products. Treated in the traditional sequence 

154 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

referred to, there can be little or nothing that is in- 
spirational in the biographies studied in the class. But 
the most distinguishing characteristic of a biographi- 
cal study must be the inspiration which such a life 
stimulates. The model on the ''Life of Hale," as 
given in Sykes' "English Composition for Grammar 
Grades," illustrates the proper organization and the 
proper relative value of facts in biographical narra- 
tives : 

Nathan Hale 

In 1776 Washington was endeavoring to capture the city 
of New York from the British. He needed to know the 
plans of his opponent, General Howe, and to have maps 
of the shores of the Hudson and the Sound. 

Washington asked Knowlton to call his officers together, 
to tell them of the desperate state of affairs, and to ask for 
a volunteer. A common spy could not do the work, for it 
required a man who understood military plans and could 
make drawings. No one responded to the first appeal. Men 
who had no fear of death recoiled from the dishonor of a 
spy's fate. As Knowlton was urging them further, Nathan 
Hale entered and at once undertook the task. Any service 
done for one's country, he said, was noble. . . . 

Hale received his last instructions from Washington, and, 
disguised as a school-master, he crossed from Harlem 
Heights to Long Island. For two weeks he was within the 
enemy's lines and made plans of all their defenses. His 
work done, he was staying at a small tavern on the shore 
waiting for the boat which would take him to safety. In 
his shoes were the drawings with full notes in Latin. But 
a Tory, a man said to be of his own kin, recognized him. 
The man went out, and a few minutes later word was 
brought Hale that a boat was approaching. He dashed out 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

to meet it, and shouted greetings to his friends, as he 
thought — but found muskets leveled at his breast. 

He was carried to the headquarters of General Howe. 
Hale made no secret of his name, rank, and errand, and 
there was no choice for Howe but to sentence him to the 
spy's fate, to be hanged. 

Early next morning Hale stood on a ladder leaned against 
a tree. A rope was about his neck ; the end of the rope was 
about to be thrown over a limb of the tree. The Provost 
Marshal asked him for a confession. Hale answered: "I 
only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." 
"Swing the rebel off !'* was the command, and in a moment 
all was over. 

The Provost Marshal had been unnecessarily cruel to the 
prisoner, and had destroyed the letters Hale had written to 
his friends, so that, as he said, "The rebels should never 
know they had a man who could die with such firmness." 
But Hale's dying speech was heard by a generous young 
British officer. Captain Montressor. Sent with a flag of truce 
to announce the execution, Montressor repeated the words 
to Captain Hull of the American forces. Such words can 
never die, and the memory of such men as Hale is immortal. 

VII. Letters. — ^Letters, with their complete variety 
of form and content, come next in this list of types of 
expression. The early part of this chapter gives in 
detail suggestions and methods for letter writing. 
Letters may be (i) business; (2) social. In the 
latter group, we have (a) the formal, and (b) the 
informal. It is overstating the case to maintain that 
formal letters should receive no attention in the ele- 
mentary school; they should receive but little consid- 
eration until the child develops a fair degree of pro- 
ficiency in writing the informal letter and the busi- 

156 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

ness letter. The stiff formal letter with its expression 
of chilly sentiment is ill adapted to instil the enthusi- 
asm that must characterize the composition lesson. 

VIII. Miscellaneous Suggestions. — To this long 
list of possibilities we may add such topics as reports 
to newspapers ; reports to the class on a book, picture 
study, etc. With children in the upper grades it is 
often desirable to unify this variety of forms of ex- 
pression by having the abler children outline a long 
story or a play of three or four scenes. In the first 
lesson the plot is evolved; in each of the succeeding 
periods a logical part or a component literary unit is 
written until the whole task is completed. Such a 
story or play must in the nature of the case be com- 
posed of narration, description of places and people, 
exposition of processes and activities, argumentation, 
dialogues between characters — the whole variety of 
forms of composition studied in unrelated lessons. In- 
terest is easily aroused and maintained and effort flows 
in plenty in such related and continuous work. Where 
composition is taught by some group method, it is 
found that the more proficient children produce re- 
sults that are well worth dramatizing. 

7. The Teacher. — The final inquiry, "How Can We 
Vitalize Composition?" was answered in terms of a 
number of constructive suggestions, the last of which 
counseled variety of form and content. The table of 
possibilities that is offered, though not scientifically 
accurate nor complete, shows the teacher what a rich 
field of subject-matter can be brought to the children. 
But the most potent factor that makes for efficiency 

157 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

in composition teaching is the teacher — his spirit, his 
zest, his Hfe and enthusiasm, his faith in the ultimate 
ability of the children. The methods suggested must 
never be regarded as more than general guides; they 
show proper tendencies, correct goals, but they are not 
designed for accurate and absolute imitation. Each 
teacher must interpret the suggestions in terms of his 
own peculiar problems and seek to adjust them to the 
individual needs of his specific class. Without this 
personal interpretation and specific adjustment all 
methods are doomed to inevitable failure. 

SUGGESTED READING 

Arnold^ F. Special Methods of Instruction, chap. 

VIII. 
Carpenter, Baker and Scott. The Teaching of 

English, pp. 12 1- 1144. Longmans, Green & Co. 
Chubb^ p. The Teaching of English, chap. XI. The 

Macmillan Co. 
GoLDWAssER, I. E. Method and Methods in the 

Teaching of English, chaps. XV and XXII. D. 

C. Heath & Co. 
Hosic, James F. The Elementary Course in English, 

pp. 97-128. University of Chicago Press. 
KiRKPATRiCK, E. A. Fundamentals of Child Study, 

chap. VIII. The Macmillan Co. 
. How Children Learn to Talk. Science, Sept., 

1891. 
Klapper^ Paul. Principles of Educational Practice, 

chap. XII, pp. 1 16-123. D. Appleton & Co. 

158 



HOW TO VITALIZE COMPOSITION EXERCISES 

Maxwell, W. H. An Experiment in Correcting 
Compositions. Educational Review^ N. Y. 7 '.2/\o. 

McMuRRY, Charles A. Special Methods in Lan- 
guage. The Macmillan Co. 

'. Oral and Written Composition. New York 

Teacher's Monograph, Vol. Ill, No. 3, June, 
1901. 

Report of the Committee of Fifteen. On Teach- 
ing of Composition. 

Spencer^ H. Composition in Elementary School. 

Taylor, J. S. Composition in Elementary School. A. 
S. Barnes & Co. 



PART II 
THE FORMAL ASPECT OF COMPOSITION 

CHAPTER IX 
THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

Expressional vs. Formal Aspect of Composition. — It is 

obvious that the teaching of composition presents two 
phases: The first deals with the problem of ordering 
ideas and giving expression to them so that the mean- 
ing is conveyed, clearly and convincingly, to another 
mind. This expressional aspect of composition was 
treated in the first part of the book. But ideas must 
be expressed in commonly accepted forms of spelling, 
grammar, punctuation, etc. This second phase of com- 
position, the purely formal or technical aspect, must 
now be treated from the point of view of the teaching 
problems involved. The second part of this book will 
therefore concern itself with the teaching of spelling, 
meaning and use, dictation, memory gems and gram- 
mar. 

Spelling Usually Tested, not Taught To children 

and teachers alike, the spelling lesson is usually a dull 
period and a hard memory grind. Despite the vig- 

i6o 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

orous drills in spelling, the results are poor. The 
writer's visits to classes led him to the conclusion 
that in most instances spelling is tested, not taught. 
Lists of varying lengths are assigned in various ways 
for memorization. The succeeding spelling lesson is 
occupied with a test to discover those children who 
know the words and those who do not. Problems and 
devices in the methodology of spelling have received 
more than passing attention, for spelling is rich in 
fads. The spelling matches, word analyses, and dia- 
critical markings which were the boast of the teachers 
of the last generation have given way to contextual 
spelling, multiple sense appeal, exclusive muscular ap- 
peal, and phonogrammic grouping which are the meth- 
ods of the teacher of to-day. 

Objects of the Teaching of Spelling.^ — We shall be in a 
better position to estimate the relative worth of all 
these devices and to evolve a method of teaching spell- 
ing if we formulate in definite terms the ultimate 
ends which must be achieved in spelling lessons. ( i ) 
The dominant aim is to inculcate the habit of writing 
the word correctly in context while consciousness con- 
cerns itself primarily with the thought to be expressed. 
The child who writes correctly a word that his teacher 
dictates with exaggerated clearness while the mind 
focalizes on the form of the word in question has not 
attained the highest end in spelling. Can the child 
write this word correctly while he is lost in the thought 
that he is expressing? This is the standard by which 
good spelling must be judged. (2) A second aim is 
to develop the ability of self -correction. The spelling 

161 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

lessons must teach children simple rules of spelling, 
the use of the dictionary, and a method of word com- 
parison so that they can correct the spelling in all their 
written work. (3) A third aim is to make correct 
spelling a matter of deep concern to the children so 
that they will gladly suffer the inconvenience of going 
to the dictionary, of make inquiries rather than put 
down incorrect forms of spelling. This "word con- 
science" can be developed in the higher grades through 
proper motivation in spelling lessons, in which teachers 
lead children to feel the social need of correct spelling. 

Principles Guiding the Selection of Spelling Words. — 
How shall words be chosen for the spelling exercises 
of a grade? This is a matter of importance when we 
note the wide divergences among the lists suggested in 
standard spelling books. 

I. Spelling Words to he Taken from Expressional 
Rather than Interpretational Vocabidaries. — Each 
person is the possessor of two vocabularies. The 
first, the expressional vocabulary, is the sum total of 
the words he uses in all his writings and oral inter- 
course. But each one of us knows a greater stock of 
words than he employs. In listening to others and in 
reading, we meet words, the meanings of which are 
known to us but which we would nevertheless not 
use in our own speech. This is the interpretational 
vocabulary. Thus, a child in the eighth grade may 
know the meaning of rectitude, mien, consecrate, but 
only the unusual child would- use them. These words 
are evidently part, of the child's interpretational vo- 
cabulary. But every eighth-grade child uses receive, 

162 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

believe, judgment, prejudice, guarantee, repetition, 
and separate in his expressional exercises. Since the 
need for speUing is felt only in written intercourse, 
and since only those words which are in the expres- 
sional vocabulary will be used in writing, it follows 
that spelling words must be taken out of the expres- 
sional rather than the interpretational vocabulary. 

An analysis of the spelling lists used in many classes 
will reveal the fact that this law is more honored in 
the breach than in the observance. Very often a class 
that averages ninety per cent, in formal spelling must 
be ranked seventy per cent, in the spelling of the 
composition and dictation exercises. In the desire to 
gather a rich and varied spelling list, the common 
words in the expressional vocabulary are overlooked 
and the words of the interpretational vocabulary are 
incorporated. Dr. Leonard P. Ayres tabulated the 
words found in about 2,000 social and commercial 
letters of representative teachers, lawyers, physicians, 
and business people. In all, about 24,000 words were 
listed, and only about 2,000 separate words were 
found. Of this latter number, about 750 ap- 
peared only once. Dr. Ayres found that 43 words 
were repeated so frequently that they made up half 
the whole number of words tabulated; seven-eighths 
of the whole number were 542 common words used 
with great frequency. ''It is evident that the average 
letter writer does not begin to use even the number of 
words he learned in elementary school grades, for 
some spelling books contain over 10,000 separate 
words." Dr. Ayres made a further comparison of the 

163 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

words used in letters with the words in the usual 
spelling lists. Of the 414 words on the National Edu- 
cation Association's spelling lists which were used in 
Cleveland in 1908, 289 did not occur at all in any of 
the 2,000 letters. It is evident that a correct spelling 
list cannot be evolved by speculation on what words 
one ought to know. Experimental investigation will 
reveal a remarkably small list, which children must 
master before the sixth school year, and which will 
put them in possession of an expressional stock suffi- 
cient for ordinary correspondence after they have left 
school. 

2. Words to Be Tested Before Incorporation in 
Class or Grade List. — All words selected for a class 
or grade list should be dictated to the children in 
natural context and then corrected. Only such words 
as are missed by a majority of the class ought to be- 
come part of the class list. Those that are mis- 
spelled by a few or even by a minority should be in- 
corporated in the individual spelling list kept by each 
child. A test will readily reveal the fact that many 
words in the grade or class list can be spelled by a 
large part of the class and must therefore be trans- 
ferred to the individual lists. 

3. Words to Be Selected with a View to Class 
Subjects. — In assigning spelling words for any grade, 
it should be the practice to assign them in that class 
in which they will correlate with the other subjects. 
Words like attribute, modify, dependent, should be 
taught in the grade that begins formal grammar ; bor- 
ough, county, etc., in the grade that studies local ge- 

164 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

ography. In the teaching of spelHng, correlation be- 
comes a means of motivation. 

Source of Spelling Words. — Assumed that spelling 
words will be selected in accordance with rational 
principles, the next problem concerns itself with the 
possible sources of these words. Chief among them 
we must mention: 

1. All Expressional Exercises. — Teachers must be 
ever mindful of the fact that spelling tends to be- 
come highly formalized, because it lacks content and 
is taught without motive. But when all the chil- 
dren's written exercises — compositions, dictations, 
notebooks, test papers, etc. — are regarded as the first 
source of the spelling list, the spelling lessons become 
possessed, at once, of both content and motive. In 
reading any written work of the pupils, teachers will 
find those words that must become part of the spelling 
list. 

2. Terms Found Necessary in Class Subjects. — 
All the subjects taught contain words and expressions 
that the children must use in their oral and written 
recitations. Words like premium^ commission, insur- 
ance, brokerage, remittance, etc., will be contributed 
by the term's work in arithmetic. In the same way 
every subject will present its addition to the child's 
expressional vocabulary and, therefore, in the last 
analysis, to the spelling list. 

3. The Teacher's Experience. — Every teacher has 
found that, regardless of the grade, certain words are 
generally misspelled by the children. Such words 
must, therefore, be incorporated in the spelling list 

165 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

without reference to the grade of the children. A 
teacher in a seventh-year class may find it necessary 
to submit words like too, their, wear, azvkward, be- 
lieve, receive, proceed, procedure, judgment, and guar- 
antee to the regular spelling drill. 

4. Good Spelling Books. — The disadvantages of 
spelling books are many ; they will be discussed in an- 
other connection in this chapter. But it is evident that 
a good spelling book may be a helpful guide and a 
suggestive standard in terms of which one's own list 
may be judged. After a tentative list has been col- 
lected and arranged, it should be compared with the 
lists for the same grade found in standard spellers. 
This comparison will reveal at once many weaknesses 
and omissions which must be rectified. To make the 
spelling book the sole source of spelling words is obvi- 
ously wrong, but to ignore it is an unjustifiable neglect 
of a valuable aid. 

Media of Presentlr^g Spelling Words. — The teacher 
who has selected her spelling list correctly and has had 
recourse to all useful sources is nov/ confronted by 
the problem of the medium by means of which the 
words are to be presented to the class. The various 
media that are suggested must now be analyzed and 
their relative worth noted. 

I. Incidental Presentation. — Many wTlters would 
abolish all formal presentation of spelling and rely 
upon the repeated but incidental and informal meet- 
ing of these words in the course of reading and study- 
ing. Chubb tells us, "Do not be fussy about it (spell- 
ing). Good reading, clear enunciation and the ear 

166 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

training that goes with it will do more for spelling 
than the routine of the spelling book. Write on the 
blackboard words that are generally misspelled, and 
let them be listed in the notebooks, by way of provid- 
ing for the eye-minded and the motor-minded child, 
as well as for the ear-minded." * 

The teacher, accustomed to the grind of the formal 
spelling drill and disheartened by the persistence of 
spelling errors, may be somewhat startled by this com- 
plete elimination of formal spelling. Experience 
teaches that incidental spelling in the average class in 
the ordinary public school is out of the question. 
Most children read little and write less. Their inci- 
dental experience with symbols will not suffice to give 
them a mastery of words. A psychological analysis 
of the problems of reading and spelling will reen- 
force this objection against incidental teaching of 
spelling. Words and phrases are read as wholes, and 
not by the synthesis of their component elements. 
Spelling is an analytical process that focalizes at- 
tention on constituent symbols in a given word. Read- 
ing is a process of thought acquisition. Spelling is 
a process of mastery of symbols in sequence, and is, 
therefore, no function in reading. When introduced 
in reading it develops habits that militate against rapid, 
thoughtful reading and make for slow word reading 
and lip movements. 

2. The Spelling Book. — A medium of presenting 
spelling words that Is now being revived Is the spelling 
book. Its use Is a moot question. Those in favor 

* Chubb : The Teaching of English, p. 170. 

167 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

of a spelling book urge that It saves time and gives 
the teacher a rich list graded by a specialist. But 
assuming that the spelling book is the best on the 
market, we must remember that there is no agree- 
ment, thus far, on a common list of spelling words. 
A list suitable for one school may not be appropri- 
ate for another. Gradation in spelling is almost 
impossible, as neither length nor phonetic charac- 
teristics are the basis of classification; mien, although 
shorter than freedom, is considered more difficult, 
and once, although highly unphonetic, is regarded as 
simpler than independent. In addition to these 
limitations we must add that the spelling book makes 
the spelling list a series of words unrelated to 
other subjects, for it is not an outgrowth of difficul- 
ties encountered in written expressional exercises and 
motive is, therefore, lacking. The spelling book must 
be used, as was previously suggested, as a standard 
by means of which a teacher may judge the worth of 
her own list. 

3. The Teacher's List. — A means of overcoming 
most of the limitations of a spelling book is the prac- 
tice of requiring each teacher to collect and systema- 
tize her own list. In this way words selected are 
more appropriate to the grade and related to the 
written exercises of the children. Where a teacher's 
list is used it must be mimeographed so that time will 
not be lost in needless copying and words will not be 
miscopied by the children. 

But a list, culled by teachers or textbook writers, 
is open to the serious criticism that mastery of any 

168 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

elements in a list is no guarantee of even approxi- 
mate proficiency in using the same elements in natural 
context. As has been said before, children who spell 
correctly words that are dictated in lists by the teacher 
in a spelling test misspell these very words when they 
use them in their own compositions. It is essential 
that words be taught in the same associations in 
which they will be used later in life. 

4. The Teacher s List in Natural Context. — It is 
evident from the objections to formal lists, that the 
list which is selected by the teacher and then incor- 
porated into a natural text will overcome the limi- 
tations of the media previously suggested. After the 
teacher has decided on the spelling list, the words 
should be grouped and a context supplied for them. 
The first twelve words in a list selected by a fourth- 
year teacher were : 

1. brought V 5. continent 9. success V 

2. discover V 6. weave 10. enemy V 

3. thankful 7. receive 11. courage 

4. prison V 8. jealous V 12. Columbus V 

Those words that can be related in any way are 

checked as noted above and a sentence is then woven 

about them. Thus, "Jealous of his success, the ene- 

8 ^ 9 

mies of Columbus brought the discoverer of the New 

10 12 X 2 

World back to Spain as a prisoner,'' affords a con- 

text for seven words, which form the first day's spell- 
ing lesson. Very often it will be necessary to write as 

169 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

many as four sentences to include the words for a 
lesson. But if the selection is made, not from twelve 
words but from a larger part of the list, the text will 
follow more naturally. At times a stanza of a fa- 
miliar poem or an extract from a selection in the 
reader will give this context. Thus an interesting 
context was afforded for two days' spelling work in 
a third-year class, by Stevenson's stanza: 

In winter I get up at night 
And dress by yellow candle-light. 
In summer, quite the other way, 
I have to go to bed by day. 

These four lines suggest that a phonic basis may 
be selected for grouping the words in the formal list. 
Thus the word night suggests light, zvay suggests day, 
etc. Upon examining her list a teacher may find the 
words would, could, and should, or extreme and su- 
preme, or valleys, keys, toys, days, ladies, babies, and 
enemies scattered through the term's work. It is ad- 
visable, therefore, to gather all phonic similarities to- 
gether and teach them i-n the same lesson, thus sup- 
planting a mechanical association by one that is logi- 
cal. The old gradation of spelling based on the lum- 
ber of syllables is therefore giving way to gradation 
based on related meaning or phonic similarities. At 
regular intervals each child receives a mimeographed 
sheet giving in sentences, paragraphs, and stanzas the 
spelling words in proper context. 

5. Supplementary Lists. — Spelling lists should be 
as flexible as possible, so that every teacher may feel 

170 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

free to modify the assignment in accordance with the 
dictates of personal judgment and experience with a 
particular class. It follows also that in large schools 
there must be some uniformity in requirements for 
the sake of the children as well as for convenience 
of supervision. For these reasons supplementary lists 
are advocated so that there may be three lists used by 
a teacher, the grade list, the class list, and the indi- 
vidual list. 

The grade list is that list which is uniform for 
each grade in a school or in a school district. These 
words may be taught parallel with, or in advance of, 
the subjects from which they are taken, the aim being 
to prepare children for difficulties that must inevitably 
arise in their paths and thus prevent misspelling. 

The class list is composed of those words which 
are misspelled by the majority of the class in all writ- 
ten exercises. The aim of this list is to eliminate 
inaccuracies that children have already acquired. 
This list varies with the class and with each term. 

The individual list is kept by each child and varies 
necessarily with each child. Children must be re- 
quired to list all words that they misspell in written 
exercises but which are not taught in class. These 
lists should be subject to regular inspections, and 
spelling periods should be set aside when each child 
tests his neighbor on the words in the individual list. 
Children may be told to write all the words they can 
recall in a limited time. These words are corrected 
and the incorrect ones are then added to the individual 
list. In this way a child is learning not only those 

171 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

words which the majority of his classmates cannot 
spell, but also those that sum up his personal weak- 
nesses in spelling. 

Method of Teaching Spelling.^Assuming the proper 
selection of words and the proper medium for pre- 
senting them to the class, we must pass on to the 
consideration of the method of teaching spelling. The 
complete method has three distinct parts : i . the 
teaching, in which the child learns under the teacher's 
supervision the phonic peculiarities of the words. 2. 
the independent study, in which the child tries to 
master the words taught in class. 3. the test, in 
which the teacher seeks to ascertain the child's mas- 
tery of the words taught and studied. 

Procedure in Teaching Words. — i. Meaning. — The 
first step must be the reading of the text that contains 
the words to be taught and the attempt to explain 
their meaning. Since proper spelling lists come from 
the children's expressional rather than interpretational 
vocabularies, little or no time will be consumed in 
making clear the meaning of the words. 

2. Accurate Pronunciation. — Unusual care must be 
taken to guarantee accurate pronunciation of each 
word. The teacher should offer the pronunciation 
and should then call upon children individually to 
sound the word. Concert recitation should be used 
with caution and only after a sufficient number of 
children have individually pronounced the word cor- 
rectly. Mispronunciation or slovenly pronunciation 
lies at the root of most faults in spelling. A foreign 
child wrote in his composition, He vent vid me, but 

173 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

later in the day, when his teacher dictated the same 
sentence, he wrote. He went zvith me. The cause 
for the change is obvious: in the first case, the child 
sounded these words to himself and spelled accord- 
ingly; in the second case, the child's ear heard the 
correct sound and reproduced it accurately. What 
is true in this case is true of all children — incorrect 
auditory images prompt incorrect spelling. 

In teaching correct pronunciation, the method of 
imitating the teacher should not be the sole procedure. 
Words should be marked diacritically and the chil- 
dren should be called upon to sound them. Other 
words should be syllabicated as a cue to proper pro- 
nunciation. In later classes the words should be 
found in the dictionary and the pronunciation evolved. 
Time spent on careful pronunciation is time saved 
in teaching spelling. 

3. Syllabication and Division into Phonogrammic 
Units. — The difficulties in most words are removed 
in the next step, the syllabication of the word or its 
division into known phonic units. Words like eman- 
cipation, nationality, modification, comparative, etc., 
are purely phonic; the child that can syllabicate them 
and recognize the known phonograms of tion, man, 
etc., has no difficulty in spelling these words. 

4. When Necessary, Focalize Attention on the Dif- 
ficulty in a Word. — Many words are purely phonic 
in all but one respect. It is much better to have the 
child's attention directed to this difficulty exclusively 
than to drill on the whole word. Thus, if the word is 
supreme, it is related to extreme and the eme of each 

173 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

is underlined in colored chalk on the board. In the case 
of the word altogether, the rule is taught and the child 
now knows the spelling of ahvays, also, etc. If the 
word is separate, we elicit that it means "cut into 
parts." Since part is spelled with an a, separate is 
spelled sepa^ not sep^^ as children repeatedly do. In 
the case of phonic anomalies like cojnb, pneumonia, 
etc., the peculiarity is singled out and attention called 
to it by encircling it with colored chalk or by writing 
it in different forms and in exaggerated sizes. Every 
means must be taken to focalize attention on the 
phonetic anomaly. 

5. The Class Drills. — Rigorous drills should follow 
the instruction step in spelling. These drills must 
be spirited, planned to stir maximum self -activity, and 
designed to appeal to children of different sense gifts. 
Among the important forms of drill in spelling we 
may mention the following: 

a. Individual Oral Spelling. Various children are 
called upon in promiscuous order to spell the word 
as the rest of the class listens to the spelling and 
sees the forms on the board. 

b. Light Concert Spelling. The class as a whole 
may be asked to spell the word orally in concert as 
each child follows visually the teacher's pointer going 
from letter to letter. 

c. Flash Method. The word is written on a card 
or on the blackboard and is exposed to the view of 
the class for only two or three seconds. At the end 
of that time various children are called upon to spell 
the word as they saw it. If the class is warned of 

174 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

the limited time that will be allowed and the con- 
centration necessary, the results are usually grati- 
fying. 

d. Motor Appeal. The word to be learned is writ- 
ten by the children with their fingers lin the air or on 
the desk or on paper with pencil. With many children 
this proves to be the strongest sense appeal. 

e. Visualization. A popular means of drill is 
through strong visual appeal. The visualization drills 
may be given in many forms. The simplest of these 
drills is to have the children look steadily at the word 
written in unusually large size on the board. At the 
end of a limited time the children are asked to shut 
their eyes and "see" the word. Those who cannot 
"see" the word with eyes shut are permitted to look 
at the word again and then try to visualize it with 
eyes shut. When all children can "see" the word, 
they are asked to spell it as they "see" it. 

Another method of conducting visualization drills 
is especially applicable to higher classes. Three or 
four words are selected for simultaneous drill and are 
written on the blackboard either in one line or in a 
column. A word is erased and then a child is called 
upon to spell the word that must be replaced. This 
procedure is repeated with each of the words. Later 
in the term -two words are erased, e. g., the second 
and the fourth, and children are called upon to spell 
"the word that was in the second place," or "the word 
that was in the fourth place." This is usually a spir- 
ited and an interesting drill. 

f. Dictionary. Another means of drill on words 

175 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

is to have the class locate the word in the dictionary. 
The effort in finding the proper page and column, 
in comparing the word on the board with the word 
in the dictionary, in noting the mode of syllabication, 
arouses enough self-activity and forms enough asso- 
ciations to give permanence to the impression that 
the word makes. 

These drills are designed to give variety, speed, and 
interest to the spelling periods. It must be remem- 
bered, however, that no one word is to be subjected 
to all these forms of drill. The method of drill 
should change with each succeeding word so that the 
elements of variety and novelty give spirit and en- 
thusiasm to the lesson. 

General Considerations Governing Drills in Spelling 

It is obvious that drills in spelling in order to be effec- 
tive^must make a multiple sense appeal; they must 
impress the visual-minded, the auditory-minded, and 
the motor-minded children. Children should be 
taught as early as possible that the senses are not 
equally efficient; that they vary with each individual; 
that one can find out, by "self study," whether he is 
visual, auditory, or motor minded. In a properly 
organized educational system, children should be 
tested in the psychological laboratories for these facts. 
But in the absence of these tests much can be done 
by the pupils themselves. The child who discovers 
his special sense gift can save himself needless mem- 
ory drill. 

In the past the visual appeal was thought to make 
the most vital contribution to the general image of 

176 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

the word. But recent psychological investigations 
tend to prove that it is the motor appeal that makes 
permanent the graphic character of a word and habitu- 
ates its writing. Experiments with patients suffering 
from aphasia and agraphia show that although the 
visual center must make its contributions if we 
are to write words easily, writing can be accom- 
plished without these contributions. Adults and 
children were taught the Greek alphabet in two ways. 
One group was blindfolded and learned the letters by 
tracing them with their fingers; the other group 
learned them through visual experience. When the 
results were tabulated they bore out Professor 
O'Shea's contentions, ''The visual image is not the all 
controlling factor. ... As development occurs, the 
visual imagery takes on even more the simple func- 
tion of mere suggestion. ... It (visual imagery) 
does not appear to be essential to the graphic repro- 
duction of auditory words." 

The practical estimate of the relative importance 
of the contributions made by the various senses re- 
enforces the conclusion of psychological investigations 
as to the vital importance of the motor appeal. The 
primary object in spelling is to reduce the zvriting 
of the word to habit. Oral spelling and visual ap- 
peals are used only as aids toward permanent fixa- 
tion, but neither has worth in social intercourse. The 
child who wins the oral spelling match but who 
hesitates in writing these words is a poor speller, 
while his neighbor who is utterly confused in oral 
spelling but who writes the words automatically has 

177 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

reached a high level of proficiency. Since spelling is 
made necessary by written intercourse the written ap- 
peal must be considered the most important form of 
spelling drill. 

Independent Study of Spelling. — Many children need 
no further drill than was outlined in the discussion 
of the procedure in the teaching of spelling. But in 
every class there are pupils whose impressionability 
and retention are weak and further memory appeals 
are necessary. Only these latter children require addi- 
tional drill, e. g., writing spelling words in and out of 
context. The practice of excusing from further drill 
those children for whom the class spelling lesson is 
sufficient will tend to intensify attention during the 
period of instruction. 

Teaching Children to Study Spelling. — In later 
grades children should be taught how to study spell- 
ing without the teacher's aid and direction. A para- 
graph in one of the textbooks should be assigned for 
this purpose. Elicit from the class that the first task 
must be a selective one in which they eliminate such 
words as offer no difficulties either because they are 
known or because they are purely phonetic in their 
spelling. The words that merit attention are then 
looked up in the dictionary for meaning, if neces- 
sary, and for pronunciation and syllabication. Chil- 
dren in a seventh-year grade when asked to do this 
with such words as salient, surety, soliloquy, siphon, 
etc., showed very clearly that they lacked an elementary 
knowledge of the alphabetic sequence in the diction- 
ary and of diacritical marks. After the dictionary 

178 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

work is accomplished children must be led to detect 
that phonic element in each word that renders it diffi- 
cult. That done, they can now follow any of the 
forms of drill used in the class. 

Study lessons in spelling may take other forms. 
A list of words like consider ^ companion, tax, pleas- 
ure, value, adapt, measure, favor, etc., is written on 
the board. The children are told to add able to each 
and then look up the spelling in the dictionary to see 
if any changes are necessary. This task completed, 
each child must try to formulate a rule in spelling to 
govern such cases or must try to find the suitable rule 
in the ''Rules for Spelling" given in his dictionary. 
Such study lessons are means of developing judg- 
ment, initiative, power of organization, and self-re- 
liance, and afford a natural method of teaching chil- 
dren those mechanical elements in the use of the dic- 
tionary that every school graduate should know. 

The Test in Spelling. — In current methods of test- 
ing children's ability to spell, the teacher dictates the 
list of words taught and the children write these in 
a column. The correct form is then shown or re- 
cited and each child checks his neighbor's inaccura- 
cies. When the papers are returned to their owners, 
all words misspelled are written correctly a given num- 
ber of times. This writing degenerates into care- 
less penmanship, in which the child is hardly conscious 
of the phonic elements and especially of those that 
gave him trouble. 

Test Ability to Use Word in Context. — We have 
need for a method that is personal and constructive 

179 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

and that tests the child's abiHty to use the words in a 
natural context of his own. In the test period the 
teacher should dictate the word and the child should 
be required to write a sentence for it. Oral spelling 
is not a test; it is a means of further drill and an aid 
toward retention. Only when the child, intent on a 
sentence, writes the dictated word correctly from force 
of habit, is he giving evidence of his mastery of the 
word. , 

Spelling Record in Books. — The tests in spelling 
should be written in notebooks rather than on loose 
sheets of paper. A notebook record of such work 
is cumulative; it shows teacher and pupil, at a glance, 
the curve of progress. A convenient arrangement, 
shown in the accompanying diagram, divides the page 
into two columns, the wider one for the sentences con- 
taining the words dictated, and the narrower for the 
insertion of correct forms for all misspelled words. 
Each teacher must decide on the best means of correct- 



Date 


Rating 


Jan. 5, 1913 


95% 


Sentences 


Correct 


I. The friends were 


separate 


containing 


form 


very sad when 




words dictated 


of 


the time came 




by the 


words 


for them to 




teacher 


misspelled 


seperate. 

2. 





ing spelling, whether by neighbors, by children them- 
selves, by monitors or by herself. But in writing the 
misspelled word correctly the child should be required 

180 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

to mark in some way that phonic element which is a 
source of trouble to him. 

Record of Misspelled Words.^ — Teachers will do well 
to devise some means by which a record can be kept 
which would show the number of children who mis- 
spelled each word and the prevailing errors made in 
these words. Such a record would be an excellent 
index of the amount of drill that should be given on 
various words in the following terms and the phonic 
elements that should be emphasized in teaching them.. 
In upper grades the teacher can easily be relieved, by 
a reliable pupil, of most of the mechanical work en- 
tailed by such a record. Examination of these rec- 
ords, kept for only one term, leads to the conclu- 
sion that the following data sum up the spelling diffi- 
culties of pupils in upper grades of the elementary 
school : 

1. Violation of the Monosyllabic Rule. Words 
ending in a single consonant preceded by a single 
vowel double the final consonant if the suffix begins 
with a vowel; e. g., dropping^ swimming^ swimmer, 
planning vs. looking, locking, etc. 

2. Violation of the Polysyllabic Rule. Same rule 
as the above in polysyllabic words when the accent is 
on the last syllable; e. g., htginning, benefitw^. 

3. Words ending in final e, drop the e when the 
sufifix begins with a vowel; final e is retained if the 
suffix begins with a consonant; e. g., coming, riding, 
management, etc. 

4. Exceptions to preceding rule; e. g., judgment, 
truly, argument, acknowledgment, wholly, etc. 

181 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

5. Use of ie and ei; e. g., rec^fve, bekVve, seizt, mis- 
chief, etc. 

6. Plurals of words ending in y; e. g., all3;^ dXlies; 
allej;^ allej;^; enemv^ enemzV^; vallej;^ vallej;^^ etc. 

7. Plurals of words ending in /; e. g., lea/^ 
\t2ives. 

8. Words compounded on all, drop one /; e. g., al- 
ways, a/together, etc. 

9. Difficulties of silent letters; sovereign, answer, 
debt, column, autumn, solemn, cupboard, doubt, 
dough, island, neighbor, etc. 

10. Difficulties due to mistaken consonants; e. g., 
conceal, clothes, grocer, medicine, anchor, etc. 

11. Difficulties due to mistaken vowels, especially in 
final syllables; e. g., htggar, sugar^ grammar^ editor^ 
etc. 

12. Difficulties due to tendency to insert letters; 
e. g., immage for image, well fare for welfare, wood- 
den for wooden, tresspass for trespass, and truely for 
truly. 

13. Difficulties due to omission of letters; e. g., 
safty for safety, ninty for ninety, asend for ascend, 
goverment for government, disapoint for disappoint, 
temtation for temptation, etc. 

14. Miscellaneous Difficulties; e. g., separate, awk- 
ward, guarantee, repetition, proceed, procedure, pre- 
cede, supersede, benefit, description, occurrence, occur, 
occasion, etc. 

This list will undoubtedly be modified in each school 
and in each class in the light of further experience but 
it gives the supervisor and teachers a working basis 

182 



THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 

of real difficulties that must be met in the spelling les- 
sons of every grade. 

Enriching the Spelling List. — There should be in- 
cluded in the spelling list useful homonyms, abbrevi- 
ations, rules of spelling, and proper names. These 
are part of the expressional stock necessary in all 
correspondence. Proper names and abbreviations can 
be taught in the same method that is used for the 
regular spelling words. Homonyms must always be 
presented in contrasting sentences, such as, ''There 
they stand holding their hats in their hands," for the 
association which gives them permanence is the con- 
trast. In presenting them we should lead children 
to infer from the text (a) the elements of similarity, 
and (b) the elements of difference. This should be 
followed by a drill that seeks to make their proper 
use habitual. Rules of spelling are best taught in- 
ductively in study lessons, as was outlined in the topic 
"Study Lessons in Spelling" in this chapter. 

Supervising Auxiliary Lists. — Spelling lists cannot 
be enriched as was suggested unless supervising of- 
ficers take the initiative in the matter of allotting 
proper names, abbreviations, homonyms, and rules of 
spelling to the various grades. In most schools vis- 
ited by the author teachers are held responsible for 
"useful rules of spelling" or "necessary proper 
names." It is evident that this general assignment 
to all teachers means either total neglect of these lists 
or an attempt to teach all in each grade. The super- 
visor must collect all useful homonyms, rules of spell- 
ing, proper names and abbreviations and then, in con- 

183 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ference with teachers, decide on a gradation of these 
lists and an apportionment of each Hst among the 
various grades. Each teacher having a certain num- 
ber of the facts to teach can give them the attention 
and the drill that will make them part of the perma- 
nent expressional stock of each child. 



SUGGESTED READING 

Arnold, F. Special Methods of Instruction, pp. 115- 
130. 

Ayres, Leonard P. Spelling Vocabularies of Per- 
sonal and Business Letters. Division of Educa- 
tion, Russell Sage Foundation, 191 3. 

Buckingham, B. R. Spelling Ability: Its Measure- 
ment and Distribution. Teachers' College, Co- 
lumbia University, Contributions to Education, 
No. 59. 

Carpenter, Baker and Scott. Teaching of Eng- 
lish, pp. 152-155. Longmans, Green & Co. 

CoRNMANN. Spelling in the Elementary School. 

GoLDWAssER, I. E. Method and Methods in the 
Teaching of English, chap. XII. D. C. Heath & 
Co. 

O'Shea, M. V. Linguistic Development and Educa- 
tion, chap. VIII. The Macmillan Co. 

Rice, J. M. Futility of the Spelling Grind. Forum, 
Vol. 2^. 

SuzzALLO, Henry. The Teaching of Spelling. 
Houghton-Mifflin Co. 

184 /7 




CHAPTER X 

THE MEANING AND USE OF NEW WORDS 
THE ENRICHMENT OF VOCABULARY 

Shall There Be Formal Instruction in the Meaning and 
Use of New Words? — Many teachers of elementary 
grades have characterized formal lessons on the mean- , 
ing of unfamiliar words and expressions as sheer 
waste of time and effort. It is their opinion that 
growth of vocabulary must be informal and inciden- 
tal in the course of reading and social intercourse. 
In support of their conclusions they cite their own 
experiences : children remember the meaning of very 
few of the new words taught; their sentences are al- 
ways artificial; the ''meaning and use" list is usually 
unrelated to other subjects; the need for the meaning 
of these new words is not felt in their own lives ; those 
children who have a language sense and who read have 
a vocabulary that is rich and varied, and those who 
lack this sense do not develop it in formal lessons in 
"meaning and use/' A cursory investigation will un- 
doubtedly bear out these contentions but an analysis of 
these indictments reveals them to be the results of poor 
methods of instruction. If the ''meaning and use"' list 
is properly selected, if each word arises in a need felt 
by the class, if natural drills are provided, the serious 

185 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

limitations of the current ^'meaning and use" lesson 
will disappear, for they are limitations that are not 
inherent in this form of language exercise. It is 
the aim of this chapter to evolve a method that pos- 
sesses these corrective influences. 

Selection of the "Meaning and Use" List. — The 
proper selection of the new words whose meanings 
are to be taught often determines the final efficiency 
of the lessons. We must omit, therefore, (a) most 
technical words; (b) common words used in an un- 
usual sense, as, '^This was a happy conceit of the au- 
thor"; (c) such words as can be really understood 
only by a mature mind ; (d) subtle distinctions in syno- 
nyms. At the beginning of the term the teacher 
should not have a single word in the list. In the 
course of the day's work words will arise which the 
children do not know and upon which the meaning 
of the text depends. When such a situation arises 
in the teaching of any subject, whether it be arith- 
metic or reading, the teacher has an opportunity to 
add to the ''meaning and use" list. But not all new 
words become part of the formal lesson. As a new 
word arises the teacher must decide whether it is rea- 
sonable to expect children of her grade to have it in 
their expressional vocabularies. If she decides In the 
negative, the meaning of the word should be told to 
the class and the lesson should continue without 
further attention to it. Should the decision be af- 
firmative, the word is written on a large cardboard 
or on an unused part of the blackboard after the 
meaning is given. The children thus see the source 

i86 



THE MEANING AND USE OF NEW WORDS 

of these words and ample motive for a formal 
lesson is given. It is essential that most of the 
new words be eliminated and that attention be con- 
fined to those that are of greatest worth for the chil- 
dren. 

Methods of Teaching Meaning of New "Words. — There 
is no fixed method of teaching the meaning of new 
words. Each type of word necessitates a different 
mode of treatment. Chief among the many methods 
we have the following: 

1. Deductive or Direct Telling. — When it is neces- 
sary that technical words be taught or when words 
have a meaning that cannot readily be inferred from 
the text, the method of direct telling must be used. 
In modern methodology the inductive or develop- 
ment method has become a fetish. We must realize 
that there are teaching situations in which deductive 
teaching may be used without apology. Words like 
mythology, sprite, aqueduct must often be taught in 
this deductive method to young children. Then, too, 
when new words arise in a literature or a history 
lesson it shows lack of judgment of relative values to 
halt the lesson in question in order to develop the 
new word by inductive treatment. In all such cases 
the meaning of the word should be given and the 
forward movement of the lesson should not be sacri- 
ficed. 

2. Objective Method. — When clear imaging must 
be attained with children whose apperceptive stock 
lacks that experience which will enable them to con- 
struct the mental picture from verbal expression, a 

187 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

picture or the object itself is of greatest service. 
The child who has never seen a wigwam, a toma- 
hawk, a mariner's compass, etc., must be taught 
what these terms represent by means of some graphic 
appeal. 

3. Inductive or Context Method. — When the new 
word is one whose meaning is always made clear by 
the context, the inductive method is to be preferred. 
If the word chagrin is to be taught, the teacher uses 
it in a number of sentences, each of which tends to 
bring out its meaning. The teacher then asks the 
class to substitute appropriate synonymous expres- 
sions for chagrin, and the meaning is thus elic- 
ited. Although it is a method which costs dearly in 
time, it nevertheless has its compensating advantages 
— maximum self-activity is aroused, each child is put 
in the position of discoverer rather than recipient, 
the impressions are more lasting, the meaning is 
clearer, and the child learns a method which he can 
use in post-school days. 

4. Dramatization. — ^A method very similar to the 
objective method but one which is characterized by 
its exclusive motor appeal is dramatization. When 
the pupils' vocabularies are so meager that they can 
obtain meaning from neither the context nor the teach- 
er's explanation, the word should be acted out if it 
lends itself to such treatment. This is the device used 
almost exclusively with foreigners who know no 
English, Expressions like with arms akimbo, he 
strutted about, a frowning face, etc., when drama- 
tized, convey meaning clearly and with economy of 

188 



THE MEANING AND USE OF NEW WORDS 

time to children whose language possessions are very 
limited. 

5. Using the Dictionary. — Most words are so 
poorly defined in the abridged editions of the dic- 
tionaries used by schools that the child finds a syno- 
nym as new to him as the word which he looked up. 
But despite this handicap the habit of using the dic- 
tionary should be inculcated in children as soon as 
their capabilities will allow. The gradation and the 
scope of the lessons necessary to give children this 
mastery of the dictionary were outlined in the dis- 
cussion on the teaching of spelling.* It must be em- 
phasized and reemphasized that the legitimate time 
for the use of the dictionary is the formal "meaning 
and use" period, in home work, or in seat work. It 
should rarely be used during any lesson in geography, 
history, nature study, arithmetic, or reading. 

6. Etymological Analysis. — In the second half of 
the school course children must begin to study the 
most common prefixes, suffixes and roots used in the 
English language. Carefully compiled lists for school 
use give about thirty prefixes, twenty suffixes, and 
about thirty-five roots. If these were divided among 
the grades, beginning with the fifth year, each grade 
would average about five prefixes, three suffixes, and 
five roots per term. It is obvious, therefore, that 
with a little drill children can be taught those neces- 
sary language elements which would enable them to 
evolve the meaning of such words as depose, super- 
sedCj descent, circumspect, transparent, transmit, su- 

'^See pp. 172, 175. 

189 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

perstructurCj etc., by a process of etymological analy- 
sis. Lessons in etymology should be thoroughly in- 
ductive. If a prefix is to be taught, a number of 
words beginning with it should be placed on the 
board. Children should then be required to give or 
find the meaning of each word. The class must then 
be led to perceive that all these words have similar be- 
ginnings. Through a series of questions we must elicit 
that these words also have a similar element in their 
meanings. It then becomes evident that the common 
prefix produces the common thought in each word and 
the function of the prefix is discovered by each child. 
The lesson concludes with an application of this knowl- 
edge to new words having the same prefix. Spelling 
books and elementary English books are replete with 
exercises and drills which seek to apply these etymo- 
logical elements and make their meaning a permanent 
possession of the children. 

How Make the Use of New Words Habitual. — The 
vital aim in the "meaning and use" lesson is evidently 
to make each new word learned a part of the child's 
active expressional vocabulary. To achieve this end 
we must teach the use of new words by a method 
which duplicates the method of learning new words 
outside the classroom. It is for this reason that no 
"meaning and use" list should be organized in advance. 
The teacher should wait until the class sees the need 
for the meaning of certain words. After the meaning 
is taught by one of the methods explained, the teacher 
must use the word in a number of sentences to show 
the children its value. Volunteers are now called 

190 



THE MEANING AND USE OF NEW WORDS 

upon. It Is not wise to force children to use the 
word too early in the lesson. After a number of 
voluntary answers have been accepted the teacher may 
insist on having the word used by any child desig- 
nated. If a pupil cannot think of an original sen- 
tence in which the word in question applies, the child 
may be allowed either to paraphrase or modify a 
sentence already given or to formulate a sentence 
around an incident suggested by the teacher. Thus, 
if, for the word venture, one child offered the sentence 
"Washington did not venture to fight the English army 
on Long Island," another child who cannot give an 
original sentence should be allowed to give, "In the re- 
treat through Manhattan Island Washington did not 
venture to fight the enemy" ; or the teacher might sug- 
gest, "Columbus — earth round — unknown seas," and 
the child might reasonably be expected to say, "Co- 
lumbus ventured across unknown seas." Every means 
must be taken to lead the child to feel the value of the 
word and then to desire to use it. 

But this mere formal use will not make the word 
part of the child's expressional vocabulary. There 
must be spontaneous use in answer to a definite need. 
The "meaning and use" chart must, therefore, be 
constantly before the class. On every occasion, in 
every explanation, and in every command the teacher 
must use as many of these words as she can. Chil- 
dren should be encouraged to use them in all recita- 
tions and in answer to every question; if necessary, 
rewards In the form of praise and even marks should 
be used to stimulate an interest and a desire to use 

191 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

these words in all communications. When children 
write their compositions they should have the chart be- 
fore them and should attempt to use as many in the 
list as possible. This insistence on the use of the 
word will make it imperative that the same chart be 
kept many days and that few words be taught. It is 
probable that in this procedure only half or even a 
third of the number of words usually taught will be 
taken up, but we may rest unconcerned, for every 
means has been taken to make these words part of 
the natural and spontaneous expressional vocabulary. 

Definitions. — Much time and useful energy are dis- 
sipated in teaching definitions in all subjects. The 
notion persists that ability to formulate or repro- 
duce set definitions measures proficiency in a branch 
of knowledge. This standard fails absolutely when 
applied to life. Few people can define that which 
is part of their lives. The electrician, unable to de- 
fine electricity, proceeds with his work intelligently 
and achieves the end he seeks ; the judge, unable, per- 
haps, to define justice satisfactorily, nevertheless 
metes it out daily; the teacher of ethics, unable to 
define morality, nevertheless inspires in his pupils a 
love for right conduct. In school, especially in gram- 
mar and ^'meaning and use" lessons, the definition is 
elevated to a place that almost glorifies it. We must 
insist that formal definitions be relegated in teach- 
ing to the same plane of relative unimportance that 
they occupy in practical life, for function, not defini- 
tion, determines use and therefore importance in life. 

In recitation of "meaning and use" lessons teachers 

192 



THE MEANING AND USE OF NEW WORDS 

should require pupils to give a sentence for the given 
word before stating the definition. If the sentence 
is both original and correct, the child knows the func- 
tion of the word; its definition will add little to its 
comprehension. Let the reader select from the page 
a few words that are constantly used by him and 
then attempt to formulate satisfactory definitions, 
and he will realize the relative worth of function 
and definition. If, therefore, a notebook record must 
be made of these words, the page should be divided 
into three columns, the word should be written in the 
first, the sentence in the second, and the definition, if 
deemed necessary, in the third. The notebook ar- 
rangement would take the following form: 



^Vord 
I. observation 



2. 



Original Sentence 

I. The astronomer 
makes his ob- 
servations of 
the heavens 
with a tele- 
scope. 



Definition 

I. A careful not- 
ing. 



2. 



Sentences that are isolated and so worded that they 
do not indicate the meaning of the word should be 
discouraged from the very beginning. Sentences must 
be taken from the reading, the geography, and the his- 
tory that are taught as well as from the round of ex- 
periences that form the child's life. 'The man is 
courageous'' has no relation to any of the subjects 

193 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

taught in the grade and does not indicate the char- 
acteristics possessed by a courageous person. 

The Supplementary Means of Increasing Vocabulary. 
— The formal ''meaning and use" drills are not the 
only means of increasing the child's vocabulary. Al- 
though the other agents are often less direct, they are 
nevertheless not less effective in many cases. Among 
these, v^e must include the following : 

I. Study of Synonyms. — A formal drill on a list 
of synonyms, e. g., discover and invent, bring and 
fetch, content and satisfied, etc., usually resolves itself 
into subtle analysis but does little to add vital ele- 
ments to the child's vocabulary. Unless these pairs 
of synonyms arise naturally in the child's experience, 
they had better be neglected. Much can be done 
through drills on synonymous expressions. The 
teacher selects an expression used too frequently by 
the children and subjects that to a process of varia- 
tions. For some reason which the teacher could not 
explain a class was using the expression "mad with," 
as in ''He was mad with joy, excitement, anger," etc. 
This was put on the board and by questions and sug- 
gestions the teacher elicited that the general idea of the 
sentence "He was mad with joy" could be expressed 
by "He was overjoyed," "He was beside himself with 
joy," "His joy knew no bounds," etc. Thus the 
expression that had become stereotyped through 
overuse gave way to more varied sentence structure. 
Such a drill takes stock of each child's verbal pos- 
sessions and brings words known but not used into 
active expression. The variation method suggested 

194 



THE MEANING AND USE OF NEW WORDS 

in the study of composition is the most elaborated 
form of these drills on synonymous expressions. 

2. The Library and Reading Circles. — Every effort 
must be made to interest children in the library so 
that they will be eager to avail themselves of every 
privilege that it offers. Very often much can be done 
through the organization of reading circles that meet 
regularly for discussion of books read since the last 
meeting. The child that contracts the reading habit 
soon gives evidence of new language possessions. He 
knows more words in the reading lesson, his sentences 
are better in form and in content, and his general 
knowledge grows beyond the confining limits of per- 
sonal experience. 

3. Oral Composition in Reading Lessons. — The se- 
lection that is read in class should be subdivided into 
its logical parts. After the first division is read it 
should be subjected to a series of questions which call 
for a reproduction and a discussion on the text. Chil- 
dren should be encouraged to appropriate words and 
expressions of the author. If the child, in formulat- 
ing his answer, should look at the page and elect to in- 
corporate almost an entire sentence, he should be en- 
couraged, for he sees the value and experiences the 
need of this phraseology. He has taken the first step 
toward adding a good expression to his meager vo- 
cabulary. 

4. Etymology and the Habit of Using the Diction- 
ary. — In the discussion of the various methods of 
teaching the meaning of new words, we noted that a 
knowledge of the common etymological elements and 

195 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

a habit of using the dictionary are of vital importance 
to the child because they give permanent means of 
enlarging vocabulary. 

5. The Subjects in the Curriculum. — Every sub- 
ject that is taught adds to the child's stock of expres- 
sions. In grammar modify and dependent are only two 
of many useful words that are learned. In like man- 
ner arithmetic, geography, history, and nature study 
make their permanent contributions to vocabulary. 

6. Memorization and Recitation. — When children 
memorize what they understand and appreciate and 
then recite, not to prove to the teacher that a given 
text was memorized in obedience to a command, but 
because of a rational motive, they are incorporating 
many necessary words and expressions in their own 
vocabularies. The details of the method that must 
govern these memorization lessons will be discussed 
in the chapter on "Memory Gems." 

7. Participation in Social Intercourse. — Vocabu- 
laries grow, usually, in response to conscious needs. 
When, therefore, the social life of the child necessi- 
tates ready and frequent speech, the mind acquires an 
ever-increasing stock of words to meet this need. Chil- 
dren who belong to social clubs and participate in the 
discussion of the business before the group, or who 
take active part in the administration of the pupils' 
self-government scheme in the school, usually give 
evidence of growing vocabularies. Children should, 
therefore, be encouraged to affiliate themselves with 
some group and to become active participants in its 
social affairs. 

196 



CHAPTER XI 

DICTATION: TEACHING THE FORMAL ASPECT OF 

COMPOSITION 

There is lack of unanimity of opinion among teach- 
ers as to the function of the dictation lesson. To 
many it is merely an opportunity to test pupils' knowl- 
edge of the formal phase of language. It is evident 
that dictation for such a purpose is of little impor- 
tance, unless we add a preceding function — to teach 
the laws governing the purely formal elements of writ- 
ten speech. We must posit, definitely, the aims of dic- 
tation before we proceed with the method of class in- 
struction. 

Objects of Dictation Lessons. — We will now consider 
the several objects of dictation lessons, (i) They 
teach the technicalities of zvritten composition. All 
written composition has two aspects, we noted: the 
expressional and the formal aspect. Ideas cannot 
group themselves logically, clear and forceful sen- 
tences cannot form, when the mind is troubled with 
matters of punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and 
penmanship. It is the function of the dictation lesson 
to teach these technical elements and thus set free 
the mind to give itself exclusively to the expressional 
elements in written composition. 

197 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Among the other aims of the dictation lesson we 
may mention the following: (2) It teaches spelling 
in a natural form. In the spelling lesson the child 
learns those words that present some difficulty to a 
majority of his class; but in the dictation lesson 
there is revealed to the child his own shortcomings. 
(3) It makes the ear sensitive to spoken language 
and thus trains for better auditory perception of the 
spoken tongue. (4) Rapid as well as neat penman- 
ship is developed. There is great danger in penman- 
ship teaching, that neatness and accuracy of form 
will be acquired at the cost of speed. Teachers used 
to put a premium on the slow, painful drawing of 
letters, failing to realize that speed as well as legi- 
bility must be attained. In the dictation lesson the 
penmanship must necessarily be more rapid. (5) In 
a correct method, concentration is developed in the 
process of dictation. (6) Habits of self-criticism and 
self-correction are acquired by the children, for every 
dictation lesson ends with a correction by the chil- 
dren of their products. 

The Choice of the Selection to Be Dictated. — The ends 
to be attained in a dictation lesson are often defeated 
by poor selection of the text that is dictated. It is 
necessary, first, that each selection should illustrate 
only one point in the technicalities of language. Thus, 
one paragraph is chosen because it shows how to 
write social titles; another because it illustrates the 
use of commas in a series, or the use of quotation 
marks; still another because some rule of capitaliza- 
tion is applied. That selection which can be used to 

198 



DICTATION 

teach any one of a half-dozen facts of language usually 
teaches nothing. 

A second requisite insists that the successive texts 
to he dictated he graded and so organized that they 
repeat a law until its application hecomes hahitual. 
An examination of the dictation exercises to-day dis- 
closes the fact that teachers in every class are trying 
to teach all the rules of spelling, punctuation, and 
capitalization in one term. Not until these rules 
are graded and allotted in limited numbers to each 
grade will their use become habit. When each teacher 
knows that she is responsible for only three definite 
rules of punctuation, four in capitalization, and two 
in spelling, she can so grade her dictation selections 
that the repetition will make them permanent posses- 
sions of the children. 

Third, it is necessary that the selection be suitahle 
in theme and language. Why dictate anything as 
insipid as "Joh^^ bought paper, pens, ink, blotters, and 
blank books. Coming home he traveled by car, train, 
bus, and bicycle. On his way he saw Mary, Jatnes, 
WiUiam, and Henry." The language of the text 
ought to be above the children's literary level, al- 
though on their plane of comprehension. In current 
articles on dictation found in pedagogical journals, 
fervid pleas are made for selections that inculcate 
lessons of ethics and patriotism. This is evidently 
sentimentalism gone astray. No practical teacher 
reserves part of the lesson on the use of the semi- 
colon for an appeal to an ideal of conduct. Ethics 
and patriotism must be taught in content lessons, 

199 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

in history, in literature — subjects with human back- 
grounds and vibrant with the emotions and impulses 
of Hfe. 

Procedure in the Dictation Lesson. — A complete dic- 
tation lesson requires a minimum of two periods and 
has three distinct parts. The first period is occupied 
with the problem of teaching the new formal ele- 
ment of language; the second period covers the sec- 
ond part of the lesson in which the fact taught is 
tested, and the third part deals with the correction 
of the children's results. We must follow the pro- 
cedure through these successive parts. 

I. The Teaching Period. — Let us assume that the 
aim is to give a first lesson on the use of quotation 
marks. The teacher dictates pairs of sentences which 
follow the type form of, Lawrence said that his sailors 
should not give up the ship, and, Lawrence said to his 
sailors, ''Dont give up the ship." Children are 
called upon to write these on the board, putting one 
under the other. Through questions the teacher then 
elicits, first, the difference in thought in each pair 
of sentences, viz., the narration of an incident as op- 
posed to the repetition of the words of another, and 
second, the need of indicating this difference by some 
form of punctuation. The teacher then shows chil- 
dren the correct form of direct quotations and leads 
them to conclude that in using the words of another 
we must have (a) comma, (b) quotation marks, and 
(c) capitalization. Sentences which have been writ- 
ten incorrectly on the blackboard are now corrected in 
the light of the rule of punctuation that was evolved. 

200 



DICTATION 

More sentences may be written and incorrect punc- 
tuation may be corrected until the end of the first 
period. This ends the teaching part of the dictation 
lesson. 

2. Testing for Mastery of Language Fact Taught. 
— In the following period a selection that illustrates 
the use of the rule for direct quotations is dictated 
to the class. In all classes below the seventh year 
it is advisable to show the children the selection the 
day preceding the dictation. True, this is not the 
mode of dictation in after life, but the child in the 
fourth or fifth school year is not ready for the direct 
dictation of the commercial world. It is unwise to 
force the child to commit errors, even though they 
are all corrected, for the mind may carry away wrong 
forms. We must constantly guard against the com- 
mission of errors by forestalling them. Hence in the 
early classes children are shown the selection and at- 
tention is directed to certain spellings, punctuations, 
capitalizations, and arrangements. On the following 
day the selection is dictated. For the lesson taught 
above an appropriate text would be the following : 

The Death of Wolfe at Quebec 

Wolfe, weary and sick, kept constant watch during the 
battle. Suddenly, he fell, fatally wounded. He realized 
that his end was near. As he lay waiting for the last 
moment, he heard, "They fly." He weakly asked, "Who 
fly?" His bodyguard replied, "The enemy, sir." His face 
seemed to brighten as he mumbled, "Then thank God, I die 
in peace." The Angel of Death then claimed him for his 
own. 

201 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

The selection is first read as a whole to the class 
and then is dictated by pausing regularly at the end 
of each logical or grammatical subdivision in each 
sentence. No greater error can be committed in dic- 
tation than to make pauses after each eighth or tenth 
word. Such a procedure, although commonly seen in 
classrooms, reduces the selection to an arbitrary suc- 
cession of words and phrases and makes rational 
punctuation impossible. 

A second important caution is never to repeat after 
the signal has been given for the class to write. The 
teacher should therefore insist upon absolute atten- 
tion while the children listen to the dictation of the 
first logical part. The signal is then given and all 
children pick up pens and write. No hand is allowed 
to be raised and no questions should be permitted. 
When a reasonable period has elapsed a signal is given 
for work to stop, the class comes to attention and the 
next portion is dictated. Under no circumstance 
should the teacher dictate while some children are 
writing, or repeat after the class has begun to write. 
The violation of this simple dictum courts inattention 
or confuses those who are trying to write. Ability to 
concentrate, it was shown, is one of the important 
ends of dictation exercises. When the entire selection 
has been dictated it may be reread as a whole, but this 
is not always necessary or advisable. Only when 
the sentences are long and the punctuation rather 
difficult for the children is this final rereading neces- 
sary. 

3. The Correction of the Children's Work. — The 

202 



DICTATION 

children should now be required to put all pens and 
ink away. The perfect copy is shown and each pupil 
corrects his own product with ruler and pencil. 
Every error is underlined and the correction is written 
above it. As in the correction of composition, it is 
not necessary to have every type of error marked by 
proofreaders' marks; a mere underline is sufficient 
to call attention to an error that needs correction. To 
discourage efforts at spurious corrections and to en- 
courage exclusive attention to correct form, a differ- 
ent writing medium is advocated for the correction 
period. If dictations, written in ink, are corrected in 
ink, children spend their best energies in devising 
ingenious ways of changing 3, t to p, 3, small s to a. 
capital S, etc., thus losing the benefit inherent in all 
honest self -correction. Every incentive for thorough 
correction should be given. Children should exchange 
papers with their neighbors, who will help them to 
discover errors that were passed over. It should be 
explained that errors neatly corrected will be counted 
only half a mark, but errors overlooked will count 
doubly against a pupil. By these means — of course, 
petty devices — children are made to feel that careful 
correction is worth their best endeavors. 

The rewriting of the dictation in absolutely cor- 
rect form is a disputed procedure. The arguments 
offered by the disputants are precisely those listed in 
the debate for the rewriting of compositions and need 
not be repeated here. Most supervisors agree that if 
errors are carefully and intelligently corrected, the 
child will learn more from additional dictation les- 

203 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

sons than from mere rewriting of selections already 
dictated. 

Further Test and Drill. — It is evident that no new 
fact need be taught for weeks. Each succeeding dic- 
tation lesson may consist of further test and correc- 
tion, until the law of punctuation is applied by the 
children automatically. In teaching the correct use 
of quotation marks it is necessary to grade the topic 
by successive steps of difficulty. The child who can 
write the selection, *'The Death of Wolfe at Quebec," 
may not be able to punctuate a sentence of the type, 
''Then I die in peace," he said, ''for I have captured 
Quebec." The "broken quotation" must then be 
in a separate lesson. But thus far we have not con- 
sidered long quotations extending over two or three 
paragraphs ; here the punctuation and the arrangement 
are different and must be taught at a later time. In 
lessons on the comma, the semicolon, capitalization, 
the need for gradation is even more urgent because the 
topics are wider in scope. 

The procedure for dictation lessons has thus far 
neglected the drill in unprepared dictation necessary 
in commercial life. Beginning with the sixth year 
occasional periods should be set aside for the dictation 
of text not seen by the class before the lesson and dic- 
tated without the nicety of logical pauses and succes- 
sive signals for attention and writing. With the ad- 
vancing grades this unprepared dictation should be 
given with greater frequency until the children be- 
come accustomed to the form of dictation heard in 
the business world. 

204 



DICTATION 



SUGGESTED READING 

Arnold^ E. Special Methods of Instruction, pp. 131- 

136. S. Mandel, 2y St. Nicholas Place, N. Y. 
Cronson^ B. Graded Dictation and Spelling Lessons. 

The Macmillan Co. 
GoLDWASSER, I. E. Method and Methods in the 

Teaching of English, chap. XIII. D. C. Heath 

&Co. 
RiCHMAN, Julia. Graded Works in Dictation for All 

Grades. School Work, Vol. Ill, Nos. i and 2. 
Van Wagenen, Kate. Dictation Day by Day. The 

Macmillan Co. 



CHAPTER XII 

MEMORY GEMS: MEMORIZATION AND 
RECITATION 

Value of Memory Gems. — Memorization and recita- 
tion of standard prose and poetical selections have 
always been an essential part of every child's lin- 
guistic education. They are the means that are used 
in all stages of the child's development, from the 
"School of the Mother's Knee" . through the high- 
school course. Their values are many and far-reach- 
ing, and can be summed up as follows: 

1. Memorizing the gems of literature is a means 
of enriching the child's limited expressional stock. 
New words, strong phrases, traditional allusions, and 
classical expressions are acquired through a context 
that helps to give them both richer meaning and 
greater retention. 

2. The mere knowledge of the literary gems that 
are memorized is an acquisition that is worth while 
for its own sake. We must acquaint the child in an 
informal way with his literary heritage. 

3. Memorization of literary gems gives children a 
permanent possession of sentiments deep in ethical 
significance and rich in poetic charm, which grow in 
meaning and beauty with the ever-widening experi- 

206 



MEMORY GEMS: MEMORY AND RECITATION 

ence of life. "The Chambered Nautiltis" which at- 
tracted us in youth by its rich imagery is now a sym- 
bol of the moral urge that is prompted by a growing 
soul. "As the swift seasons roll" the poem glows 
richer and more beautiful in its symbolism. 

4. But aside from the content aspect of these lit- 
erary possessions, the child is becoming familiar with 
language structure that serves as a model for his own 
modes of expression. The child may not consciously 
set himself to imitate the selections he memorizes, 
but they nevertheless have a deep and subtle influence 
on his linguistic development. 

5. The recitation of the memorized literary gems 
affords the teacher an excellent means of training his 
pupils in correct enunciation, clear articulation, cor- 
rect voice control and modulation. 

6. Another important gain that follows in the 
wake of dramatized recitation of memorized selec- 
tions is increased confidence and more graceful self- 
expression. These values give the memory gem les- 
son a definite and undisputed place in every curricu- 
lum of English. 

The Selection of the Memory Gem. — The standard of 
selection must be determined to a great extent by the 
child's conception of delightful literature. What is 
artistic and literary to us may awake no response 
from the child. Not the mature conception of the 
teacher, but the growing, aspiring conception of the 
child should determine what will be selected from our 
vast literary storehouse. The poem, "I Live for Those 
Who Love Me," expresses the basic tenet of Christi- 

207 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

anity. But to require children in the third year of 
the elementary school course to mouth it and to 
pledge themselves to ''live for the cause that needs 
assistance" and ''for the wrongs that lack resistance," 
is a procedure that borders on the ludicrous. Gray's 
"Elegy in a Country Church Yard" highly merits its 
place of honor in most carefully selected anthologies, 
but its recognized literary merit does not necessarily 
make it appropriate for an elementary school child. 
A forced study of v^hat is above the child's artistic 
power of appreciation may undermine the child's in- 
terest in all literary form. But, it has been asked, 
will not this standard lead to the memorization of 
the commonplace in our language ? There is no cause 
for alarm because it is not proposed to invite imma- 
ture and unread children to select the content of their 
literary course. The standard formulated merely sug- 
gests that mature and widely read teachers and su- 
pervisors select from the rich literary sources those 
gems whose emotional and artistic appeals are so uni- 
versal that even the developing child can respond to 
them, can feel their thrill and grow under their in- 
fluence. 

Motivating the Memory Gems. — The memorization of 
a literary gem should proceed from the children's 
desire to count it among their possessions. The dis- 
cussion of the values of memorizing literary selections 
sums up the teacher's reasons for making this type 
of language exercise a vital part of the English course. 
But they do not necessarily evoke in the child a de- 
sire to memorize any selection. The problem that 

208 



MEMORY GEMS: MEMORY AND RECITATION 

confronts the teacher in teaching the memory gem is 
how to motivate it for the children. 

The problem of motivation may be solved by using 
the selection as the text for an intensive, apprecia- 
tive reading lesson. Through the entire period the 
teacher must aim to bring within the children's sphere 
of appreciation all the elements that make the literary 
gem beautiful and rich in poetic imagery. At the 
end of the lesson the teacher must try to ascertain 
whether the selection was a source of pleasure to the 
pupils. If they caught the message and feel its spirit, 
the memorization can be based on real motive; if, 
for some reason, the selection proved uninspiring, it 
should not be forced upon them. 

Let us assume that the class responded to the ap- 
peal of the literary gem. Children are called upon 
to dramatize it. The most enthusiastic volunteers 
are called upon. They eagerly come before the class, 
and with eyes on the page proceed with the drama- 
tization. When it becomes apparent that the dramati- 
zation is a failure, the teacher asks the children to 
account for the result and elicits that unless the selec- 
tion is known "by heart" its proper rendition is im- 
possible. Here, then, is the motive for the memoriza- 
tion. The desire to recite the selection to the assem- 
bled school, an eagerness to possess what is beautiful 
and inspiring, and the preparation for a recitation con- 
test may serve as added motives which reduce the tedi- 
um involved in memorization exercises. 

Procedure in Memorizing Literary Gems.. — i. Sym- 
pathetic Comprehension of the Selection. — It was sug- 

209 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

gested that the literary selection that is to be mem- 
orized should first be used as a text for an intensive 
reading lesson. In this appreciative reading the chil- 
dren feel the message of the selection, become fa- 
miliar with the development of the central theme, and 
learn the meaning of new words, phrases, and al- 
lusions. With this basis of literary appreciation, the 
teacher is assured of a sympathetic comprehension by 
the class and a motive for memorization. 

2. Tracing the Sequence of Ideas. — The second 
step preparatory to the memory appeal is to lead the 
children to trace the sequence of ideas in the selection 
studied. Let us assume that Kingsley's "Three Fish- 
ers" is to be memorized. 

The Three Fishers 

Three fishers went sailing away to the West, 
Away to the West as the sun went down; 

Each thought of the woman who loved him the best, 
And the children stood watching them out of town; 
For men must work, and women must weep, 
And there's little to earn, and many to keep, 
Though the harbour bar be moaning. 

Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower. 

And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down; 

They looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower, 
And the night-rack came rolling up ragged and brown. 
But men must work, and women must weep, 
Though storms be sudden, and waters deep. 
And the harbour bar be moaning. 

Three corpses lay out on the shining sands 
In the morning gleam as the tide went down, 

210 



MEMORY GEMS: MEMORY AND RECITATION 

And the women are weeping and wringing their hands 
For those who will never come home to the town; 
For men must work, and women must weep, 
And the sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep; 
And good-bye to the bar and its moaning. 

The successive thoughts of the first stanza analyzed 
by a sixth-year pupil were listed as follows : Three 
fishermen sail away; they sail to the west as the sun 
goes down; each thinks of his wife; their children 
watch them; men must work, women must be sad 
when little is earned and many must be supported; 
poor fishermen must go even if it looks dangerous. 
These ideas are now committed to memory with little 
effort because the entire thought is evolved most nat- 
urally and logically. 

The values of memorizing the sequence of ideas 
in their natural order are many. First, it simplifies 
the memorization of the poet's words; each thought 
prompts its appropriate expression, and with little 
effort a verbatim reproduction is achieved. Second, 
it tends to make recall rational rather than verbal. 
Study the strained face of the child who recites a 
memorized selection; the steady stare and the nerv- 
ous anxiety give evidence of the fact that the child 
is focalizing all conscious effort on the next line or 
the next word. The recitation is a verbal reproduc- 
tion, not a reconstruction, thought by thought, of a 
real situation. When these children err, they say 
what is absolutely devoid of meaning. But when the 
child learns first the sequence of the ideas and then 
the poet's phraseology, he recites a series of thoughts, 

211 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

he thinks constantly of the next idea, and when he 
errs he substitutes his own clumsy wording which 
expresses the idea in mind in a less elegant form. 
A third value of such a procedure is that it trains 
children in systematic and sustained thinking. 

3. Thought Questions Anszvered in the Words of 
the Author. — When the children have acquired the 
"thought- skeleton/' each idea should be subjected to 
a thought question, which should be answered by the 
children in the words of the text to be memorized. 
As illustrative of this phase of the lesson, we may 
submit the following reproduction of questions and 
answers, the part of the answer in italics recited with 
emphasis by the children: 

Teacher: How many fishers left for the trip? 

Pupil: Three; three fishers went sailing away to 
the west. 

Teacher: In what direction did they sail? 

Pupil: Toward the west; three fishers went sail- 
ing away to the west. 

Teacher: What time of day was it? 

Pupil : Twilight ; away to the west as the sun went 
down. 

Teacher : Who was in the thoughts of these men ? 

Pupil : Their wives ; each thought of the zvoman 
who loved him the best. 

Teacher : What did these women feel toward these 
men? 

Pupil: They loved them; each thought of the 
woman who loved him the best. 

Teacher: Who were interested spectators? 

212 



MEMORY GEMS: MEMORY AND RECITATION 

Pupil: Their children; and the children stood 
zvatching them out of town, etc. 

After these specific questions are asked, a series of 
general problems are formulated which necessitate 
the reading of that portion of the selection which is 
to be memorized. The teacher now requests : ''Read the 
line that gives the saddest picture; the happiest pic- 
ture. Read the line that tells most about the danger- 
ous character of the work of these men. What line is 
most beautiful; least beautiful? Read these. What 
line gives a hint of the end of the trip? Read the 
line that is hardest to remember; easiest to remem- 
ber. What line tells most about the homes of these 
men?" These are only a few of many questions that 
can be formulated to serve as a pretext for making 
children read and reread the stanza that is to be 
committed to memory. Let the teacher now call for 
volunteers and note how large a part of her class is 
ready to recite the stanza that was studied. 

Retention Through Thought Rather than Through 
Memory Appeal. — Throughout this lesson the aim was 
to avoid an appeal to verbal memory. In ''memory- 
gem" lessons one hears the teacher's commands, "Re- 
cite the first sentence. Say it five times. Recite the sec- 
ond sentence. Say it five times. Recite the first and 
the second sentences three times, etc." At times the 
sentence is not made the unit of reiteration, for the 
teacher requires the children to repeat the first line, the 
second line, the first two lines, the third line, the first 
three lines, etc. What wonder that most children feel 
that the term gem is a misnomer in these lessons, for 

213 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

the adjective memory overshadows its noun. The 
procedure that was suggested aims to produce per- 
manent retention through thought rather than through 
mechanical repetition, through a method that stimu- 
lates self -activity rather than one that dulls the mind 
by its monotony, through devices that set problems 
before the class rather than incessant drill. 

Aids to Memorization. — But not all children can 
memorize by a method that makes an exclusive 
thought appeal. Minds that are unimpressionable 
must have auxiliary appeals that are more mechani- 
cal in their nature. Among these aids to memoriza- 
tion are: (i) Verbal repetition; (2) singing the music 
that may have been composed for the selection; (3) 
pointing out the rhymes supplies additional auditory 
associations; (4) emphasizing the rhythm or the lilt 
is, at times, almost as effective as the music ac- 
companying a poem; (5) multiple sense appeal, in 
which an effort is made to have the selection heard, 
seen, acted, and written by way of providing for audi- 
tory-, visual-, and motor-minded children. 

The Recitation. — Few lessons are as uninsplratlonal 
and devoid of social spirit as the recitations of mem- 
orized selections that one hears in a round of visits to 
schools. Child after child is called upon to recite in 
rapid succession to prove to the teacher that he has 
perfect mastery of the correct sequence of words. 
The auditors listen listlessly and hold themselves in 
readiness to correct the child who recites, or to con- 
tinue, should the poor victim become confused and 
unable to proceed to the end. These recitations must 

214 



MEMORY GEMS: MEMORY AND RECITATION 

be enlivened by a rational purpose and a social spirit. 
Every opportunity for dramatization should be util- 
ized by the teacher. The child who recites should be 
made to feel that his classmates are anxious to hear 
his rendition, to see his dramatization, and to compare 
his interpretation with theirs. The teacher must not 
exaggerate her position; she must strive to make the 
child feel that she is only one member of the child's 
audience. When a pupil's recitation is ended, his 
classmates should be called upon to comment on the 
clearness of speech, the accuracy of pronunciation, the 
naturalness of the rendition, and the grace of the 
dramatization. The teacher should be as insistent on 
eliciting favorable criticism as unfavorable, when it 
is merited. After every child has recited, the pupils 
should decide the relative merits of their classmates' 
recitations and should elect that child or those chil- 
dren who will represent them in the '^assembly exer- 
cises" or who will be sent to other classrooms when 
classes exchange recitations. The oral recitation 
should never descend to the dispirited level of a test. 
If the teacher is anxious to secure a mark for each 
pupil in these exercises, she should ask the children to 
write out the selection and then rate them according 
to a uniform scale. 

SUGGESTED READING 

GoLDWAssER^ I. E. Method and Methods in the 
Teaching of English, chap. XL D. C. Heath & 
Co. 

215 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Haliburton and Smith. Teaching Poetry in the 
Grades. Houghton-Mifflin Co. 

Hosic, James F. Elementary Course in Enghsh. All 
chapters for suggestions for material. University 
of Chicago Press. 

Klapper, Paul. Teaching Children to Read, chap. 
VII. Bibliography at the end of this chapter con- 
tains suggestions for material. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE VALUES OF FORMAL GRAMMAR 

The Disputed Place of Grammar in the Modern Curricu- 
lum Progressive teachers of English hold divergent 

and almost irreconcilable views on the place, the func- 
tions, and the ultimate worth of grammar as a sub- 
ject in the elementary school curriculum. The camp 
is divided into three factions. The first justifies the 
traditional emphasis on formal grammar with its ter- 
minology, classifications, rules of syntax and analysis 
— all to be taught in separate periods with as much 
correlation as can naturally be introduced. The sec- 
ond group insists that formal grammar must be elim- 
inated and the necessary laws of language be taught 
through the correction of errors that children make 
in their written and oral speech. The third view on 
the teaching of grammar is a compromise: it admits 
the futility of formal grammar that is taught as the 
scientific analysis of speech, but it has faith in the 
teaching of those facts of grammar that can be re- 
lated to the child's needs. This last school would 
teach grammar as part of the course in composition; 
would have every lesson in grammar arise in errors 
committed by members of the class; would eliminate 
all those elements of formal grammar that cannot be 

217 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

applied directly by the child in the process of improv- 
ing speech; and would teach grammar incidentally, 
not in set periods. The reaction to formal grammar is 
not a temporary attitude accompanying changing con- 
ceptions in teaching; it is a vigorous protest against 
abuses that have characterized most of the teaching 
of grammar. 

Grrajnmar a Discredited Subject The indictments 

brought against current procedures in the teaching of 
grammar are many and grave. 

1. The old boast, "Grammar teaches how to write 
and speak a language correctly," has been disproven, 
not only by practical results observed in actual teach- 
ing but by a deeper analysis of the relation that ex- 
ists between speech and grammar. Every teacher can 
bring evidence to prove that proficiency in grammar is 
no guarantee of equal or approximate proficiency in 
composition, and vice versa. A child, whose compo- 
sitions leave little to be desired, may score a failure in 
grammar, while his neighbor, well versed in the in- 
tricacies of verbal forms and the rules of agreement 
in grammar, may write English that is devoid of all 
application of this technical knowledge. Exercises in 
grammar are essentially analytic; exercises in com- 

1 position are creative and essentially synthetic; there- 
I fore, ability in one of these forms of language study 
I is not necessarily carried over to the other. 

2. In most classrooms, there is little or no rela- 
tion between the courses in grammar and in compo- 
sition for a given term. In schools organized on a 
departmental schedule in the last two or three years 

218 



THE VALUES OF FORMAL GRAMMAR 

it is usual to assign the teaching of grammar to one 
teacher and the teaching of composition to another. 
These teachers proceed independently, the one teach- 
ing children the nominative absolute, the other strug- 
gling with the class in the hope of breaking the habit 
of using dependent clauses for complete sentences. It 
is advisable to assign to one teacher all the subjects 
that are grouped under the head of English, so that 
every natural correlation will be introduced and thus 
the work will be given a unity of aim which it will 
otherwise lack. 

3. Grammar as outlined in many courses of study 
and in textbooks written for elementary schools 
abounds in sterile verbal subtleties. Thus, the child is 
taught to keep gerund and gerundive apart. The word. 
sailing in the sentence, ''Sailing a boat is great sport," 
must be distinguished from the word sailing in, "The 
sailing of the ship was scheduled for midnight." 
True, the one word has an element of action in it, 
while the other has not; the one word cannot be in- 
troduced by the article the, while the other can; but 
when all these distinctions are noted and the proper 
names applied, in what vital way has the child's speech 
been affected? The dative object and the direct object 
are now taught in many schools. This terminology is 
absolutely essential in language like German and 
Latin, but in English it serves only to multiply un- 
necessary classification. What is gained by calling 
hat the direct object and me the dative object in the 
sentence, "Jo^^^ §^ve me the hat"? The old form, 
"objective case," answers the purpose because in Eng- 

219 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

lish there is no difference in the form of words in the 
accusative or in the dative case. Such an unwarranted 
increase in terminology reduces grammar to a sterile 
study of formalism in language. 

4. The prevailing method of teaching grammar is 
another cause of the discredit which has been cast 
upon the subject. In the teacher's endeavors to have 
children master an ever-increasing terminology and 
ever-growing classification, memory drills are greatly 
emphasized. Recitations are given over exclusively 
to reciting set classifications, stereotyped definitions, 
formal rules and memorized lists. Grammar is still a 
memory subject rather than a rational study, for the 
din of monotonous repetitions of /^ my or minej me, 
we, our or ours, us, or of / love, you love, he or she 
loves, we love, you love, they love, etc., is still to be 
heard in most schools. It seems that we have not yet 
learned that mastery of elements, isolated in an arbi- 
trary list, is no guarantee of ability to use these very 
forms in natural context. 

5. Another very serious criticism that must be 
urged against current courses in grammar is the undue 
variety of terminology. The market is flooded with 
a variety of books that find their way into the school. 
Most of these books repeat the same limitations and 
abuses, but each one of them justifies its appearance 
by a new system of names for the various elements 
in grammar. No attempt is made to reach any degree 
of uniformity in the terminology; each book insists 
on its own system, and each author is a law unto him- 
self. What is the inevitable result ? Different schools 

220 



THE VALUES OF FORMAL GRAMMAR 

use different books, and even the various classes in 
one school frequently do not use the same series of 
books. The pupils become hopelessly confused by the 
array of imposing terms. As the children pass from 
one school to another and from one class to another, 
they find the new teacher using a terminology un- 
known to them. What wonder that children leave 
school ignorant of the basic terms in grammar! 

An illustration of the extent of this variety of ter- 
minology will at once show the gravity of the situa- 
tion. A recent writer collected in a comparative table 
the terms used by our leading textbooks for common 
grammatical elements. The results as tabulated are 
given below in slightly modified form. The writer 
listed ten books that are in use in schools to-day. For 
purposes of comparison he selected five fundamental 
uses of nouns and adjectives in the predicate, viz., 
(a) good, in the sentence, ''He is good"; (b) John, in 
''This is John"; (c) him, in "I know him"; (d) red, 
in "We painted our barn red"; (e) me, in "He gave 
me the book." The Roman numbers in the table rep- 
resent these fiYt elements in the order named; under 
each is listed the various terms applied by textbooks 
used in classes to-day. The disagreement in the no- 
menclature that exists for predicate constructions is 
typical of the general confusion found in grammatical 
terminology. 

What is the immediate problem that confronts us 
in the teaching of grammar? Out of this chaos there 
must be evolved a simplified and uniform nomencla- 
ture that will be used at least in an entire city school 

221 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 



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222 



THE VALUES OF FORMAL GRAMMAR 

system. In New York City the Board of Associate 
Superintendents evolved such a uniform terminology. 
But the textbooks placed in the children's hands have 
a nomenclature that does not agree with the one that 
is taught the children, and thus confusion is not en- 
tirely obviated. It is necessary to have special edi- 
tions of textbooks for the city, if the children are to 
derive the benefits that come from using a book In 
studying grammar. 

We have seen that these indictments against the 
teaching of grammar are serious and true, but they do 
not disclose weaknesses inherent in the subject itself, 
or any defects that cannot be remedied. Proper or- 
ganization of the course of study and a more peda- 
gogical teaching procedure will remove these abuses 
in the teaching of grammar. We must turn therefore 
to a consideration of the values of grammar as an 
elementary school study and the principles governing 
the methods of teaching the subject. 

Values of Granunar. — A definite formulation of the 
values of grammar will set up for us definite aims 
that must be achieved in the teaching of the subject. 
The aims become standards, in terms of which we 
judge the efficiency of our methods of teaching and 
the wisdom of the course of study that is to be taught. 
The values of grammar can be grouped under five 
heads, viz., the practical, the disciplinary, the literary, 
the cultural, and the preparatory values. 

I. The Practical Value of Grammar: A Guide to 
Correct Speech. — An investigation into the reasons 
why teachers and principals believe that grammar 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

should be taught showed that the first justification 
was that ''grammar is a guide to correct speech." But 
we must not read too much into this function of gram- 
mar. It was pointed out in a previous connection that 
a knowledge of grammar does not guarantee correct 
speech. Grammar is the science of language, and 
serves as an aid in correct speech in the same way as 
the knowledge of the science of any medium of ex- 
pression serves the art of expression. A knowledge 
of logic does not guarantee logical thought, but it does 
give the student a means of detecting logical fallacies 
and a standard in terms of which he can judge the 
results of his own thinking. So, too, grammar teaches 
us not to speak English correctly, but to understand it. 
The teaching of grammar is justified only when 
children learn to use it for purposes of self-criticism 
and correction. Thus, the child who learns the func- 
tions of verbs and participles may still write in his 
composition ''When he seen what I done," but in the 
period of correction he underlines seen and done and 
uses verb forms. The wise teaching of grammar seeks 
to make correction of all speech, not arbitrary changes 
according to the dictates of the teacher, but an intelli- 
gent process of self-criticism. 

2. The Disciplinary Values of Grammar. — Prop- 
erly taught, grammar is a means of developing pow- 
ers of concentration, reason, abstraction, and analysis 
in verbal relationships. Grammar has been called 
the logic of elementary education. Laurie tells us, 
"Grammar is logic in the concrete and language in 
the abstract. . . . The boy who is intelligently ana- 

224 



THE VALUES OF FORMAL GRAMMAR 

lyzing in grammar is intelligently analyzing the proc- 
ess of thought, and is a logician without knowing it." 
Max Miiller expresses the disciplinary value of gram- 
mar as follows : "Grammar is logic of speech even as 
logic is the grammar of reason." 

A few illustrations will readily show that the dis- 
ciplinary value of grammar is not overstated. The 
reason, the concentration, and the analysis required 
of a school child in perceiving the differences between 
"He was gone an hour" and "He has been gone an 
hour," "I want him" and "I want him to be a soldier," 
are as intense as the mental activity of the college stu- 
dent who distinguishes extension from intension in 
logic or perception from conception in psychology. 

Cautions in Seeking the Disciplinary Value of 
Grammar. — Potent as the disciplinary value of gram- 
mar is, we must nevertheless remember that the men- 
tal power developed in this subject can be applied only 
to verbal relations. The powers of analysis and dis- 
crimination developed in grammar will undoubtedly 
be of service to the student in his study of rhetoric or 
the grammar of foreign languages, but of little or no 
direct help in studies and experience markedly differ- 
ent from the verbal relations of grammar. This is 
true of all mental habits, for a mode of mental activity 
developed in one experience is transferred to other ex- 
periences in direct proportion to their similarity. The 
limited value of the mental power developed in gram- 
mar proves conclusively that no topic in grammar 
must be taught for its disciplinary value alone. Teach- 
ers and textbook writers often teach in grammar what 

225 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

has no practical worth and justify themselves on pure- 
ly disciplinary grounds. If the fact of grammar has 
no social use, it merits no place in class studies. A 
fact, aside from' its use, has no value. Hair-splitting 
differences and nice verbal distinctions develop 
thought for more verbal puzzles. The disciplinary 
values of grammar must be achieved through the 
teaching of topics that can be used by the child in the 
correction of his speech and that have, therefore, so- 
cial worth. 

3. Grammar as an Aid in Literary Interpretation. 
— It has often been asserted by the sponsors for for- 
mal grammar that a knowledge of grammatical ele- 
ments and functions is of great aid in literary inter- 
pretation and expressive reading. In the sentence, 
*'That book that you saw belongs to me," the relative 
emphasis on each that and the correct phrasing may 
prove perplexing to the young mind. But the recog- 
nition of the grammatical function of each ''that" 
indicates clearly that the demonstrative adjective and 
not the relative pronoun should be stressed in reading ; 
the feeling for the clause which comes from a study of 
grammar prompts correct phrasing. Similarly, pas- 
sages are encountered in all reading where thought is 
not clear because the grammatical relations or func- 
tions of certain phrases and clauses are not perceived. 

This belief, firmly rooted in many minds, that a 
knowledge of grammar is a direct aid in literary in- 
terpretation, was subjected to a test by F. S. Hoyt. 
The results of examinations given in composition, 
grammar, and literary interpretation were tabulated in 

226 



THE VALUES OF FORMAL GRAMMAR 

comparative lists. They prove that proficiency in any 
one of these three branches of the study of EngUsh 
is no index of the proficiency that will be attained in 
the other two. A cursory and superficial analysis of 
the marks of any class in grammar and in literary in- 
terpretation will serve to reen force the conclusions 
based on this experimental evidence. Hoyt's findings 
are precisely what one would naturally anticipate, for 
the mental attitudes and activities in grammar and in 
literary interpretation are so different that the excel- 
lence developed in one subject need not necessarily 
influence the proficiency attained in the other. Only 
when awkward or unusual construction of sentences 
hinders acquisition of meaning will a knowledge of 
grammatical functions aid in literary interpretation. 
But in the elementary schools such situations are not 
the rule, and the child's grasp of grammatical func- 
tion is so meager that it is of little service in tracing 
the relationship among clauses and phrases in sen- 
tences whose construction is not lucid. 

4. Cultural or Conventional Value of Grammar. — - 
The teaching of grammar may be justified on the 
ground of social expediency. Many facts are taught, 
not because they have intrinsic worth but because they 
form part of that knowledge stock that society ex- 
pects its citizen of culture to possess. The terminol- 
ogy of grammar adds useful words like modify, inde- 
pendent, dependent, mode, tense, imperative, superla- 
tive, clause — words that enrich vocabulary and add to 
expressional powers. 

But while the conventional demands must be con- 

227 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

sidered they must not become the sole governing fac- 
tors. The merest superficial knowledge of grammar 
will satisfy the conventional demands. In the teach- 
\ ing of those elements of grammar that can be applied 
by the child in his endeavors at self-criticism and 
correction, these cultural values of the subject can be 
attained. This conventional justification need not 
guide either in teaching the subject or in organizing 
a course of study, for it is a result of the teaching of 
grammar by any method and through any course. 

5. Preparatory Value of Grammar. — The final 
value of grammar lies in the fact that it is a neces- 
sary preparation for future studies. Ignorance of 
grammar makes work in rhetoric very difficult. 
Teachers of foreign languages in secondary schools 
complain that progress is impeded by the children's 
lack of basic knowledge of English grammar. If we 
take Goethe's dictum seriously, ''He who knows only 
one tongue, does not know that well," the preparatory 
value of grammar must be regarded seriously. But 
when we recall the high rate of elimination in the ele- 
mentary schools, it * obvious that this preparatory 
value justifies the teaching of grammar only to ten 
per cent, of the school population — those who reach 
the high school and pursue the study of rhetoric or 
foreign languages. 

•SUGGESTED READING 

The suggested reading for this chapter will be found 
at the end of chapter XIV. 

228 



CHAPTER XIV 

PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE TEACHING OF 

GRAMMAR 

The discussion has thus far concerned itself with 
abuses that mark prevailing methods of teaching 
grammar and with a survey of the legitimate aims and 
scope of the subject. We must now turn to a consid- 
eration of the principles which may lead pupils to 
attain these values so that grammar may become an 
intelligent subject to them, intimately related to the 
needs of their lives. 

1. Be^n with the Sentence.' — This is the first of 
these basic principles. In grammar, as in most sub- 
jects, an analytic-synthetic method is the rational pro- 
cedure in teaching, but a cursory examination of most 
of our elementary books on the subject shows the re- 
verse form of instruction. The noun, the verb, the 
pronoun, the subject, the predicate, are the topics em- 
phasized in the initial pages. The mastery of these 
elements prepares the child for the comprehension of 
the sentence. But logical though this procedure may 
be, it is hardly psychological. If we are to make gram- 
mar rational and necessary in the eyes of the child, 
we must begin with that part of grammar which is 
related to the child's needs. The ''point of contact" 

229 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

is the sentence. Since the child strives constantly to 
express thought, the sentence, the unit of thought ex- 
pression, must be mastered first. It is true that when 
the child first begins to speak, ''he is a word utterer" ; 
but if the word is spoken spontaneously and not as an 
imitated sound for the edification of the proud parents, 
it is, in intent, a sentence. "Papa," "hat," "doll," 
usually symbolize "Take me, papa!" "Give me the 
hat!" "I want the doll." The accompanying gestures 
and pantomimes are evidences of the thought which 
governs these utterances, which are called in psy- 
chology "word-sentences." 

The application of this simple dictum is obvious. 
There must be an emphasis on sentence structure be- 
fore the parts of speech are taught. Sentences in 
great number should introduce lessons on participles, 
prepositions, conjunctions, or any specific technical 
element of grammar. In the course of an analysis of 
the structure of these sentences and the function of all 
their elements, the new lesson should be evolved. An 
illustration of this principle will be found in the lesson 
on subject and predicate which is outlined in the dis- 
cussion of the third principle in the teaching of gram- 
mar. 

2. Make the Work as Concrete and Practical as Pos- 
slHe. — This is the second guiding suggestion that we 
must keep in mind. Grammar finds few friends 
among the children in those classes where it is intro- 
duced. The reason is not far to seek. These children 
find it an unnecessary and arbitrary classification of 
the speech they think they know. As the grades ad- 

230 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

vance, children like grammar better, for the thought- 
ful ones now see its influence on speech. The most 
flagrant waste of time and energy in grammar can 
be traced to the absence of any intimate relation be- 
tween the lessons in this subject and those in oral and 
written composition. There must be such a correla- 
tion between these subjects, between the art and the 
science phase of language, that every grammar lesson 
begins in the expressional errors of the children. If 
the rule of agreement is to be taught, select for the 
children's compositions sentences that violate this law ; 
if the relative pronoun is to be presented, select for 
their written work sentences that are too simple. Lead 
them to see how the weak construction : ^'The poor 
sailor then stepped into the royal chamber. He was 
destined to discover a new world for Spain," can be- 
strengthened by turning it into, ''The poor sailor, who 
was destined to discover a new world for Spain, now 
stepped into the royal chamber." Add instance after 
instance, and let the children discover that the word 
who in one case, which in another, that in still an- 
other enable one to give the suspense and the strength 
to the two sentences. Ask the class what the next les- 
son in grammar ought to be and they will state their 
own aim, thus motivating the lesson. After the topic 
is taught, this knowledge acquired in the lesson must 
be appHed in the correction of the past written work. 
Errors of agreement, like One of the men were,, can 
now be changed by the children themselves; simple, 
isolated sentences are now fused into one suspended 
sentence, and the practical aspect of grammar is thus 

231 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

emphasized. To neglect this simple principle of mo- 
tivation is to neglect the final justification for the 
teaching of grammar. 

3. Shall the Method in Grammar Be Inductive or De- 
ductive? — Teachers frequently ask this question to- 
day. To emphasize the disciplinary value of gram- 
mar, teachers adopted the long inductive method of * 
discovery. This led to extravagant expenditure of 
time and very often did not eliminate the drill in the 
end. To save time and effort, and at the same time 
guarantee a mastery of the facts, other teachers re- 
verted to the old didactic method, the deductive pro- 
cedure. The teacher explains the new lesson, the 
children memorize the necessary information, and 
proceed with the application. Observation of class 
teaching seems to indicate that the current method in 
grammar is deductive rather than inductive. Ex- 
tremes must be avoided, and one method must not be 
adopted throughout the school course to the exclusion 
of the other. Each method has its distinct and legiti- 
mate province. In those grades in which formal 
grammar is introduced the lessons may safely follow 
an intensely inductive procedure. It is a longer meth- 
od and is more costly in time, but it is justified by the 
fact that a permanent foundation is being laid. In 
this grade the teacher is anxious to give clear and 
accurate concepts. The method which leads children 
to the conclusion rather than gives it to them, and 
which insists that children discover information after 
studying specific details, is best designed to achieve 
this end. But in the upper grades the development 

232 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

method is not necessary. Children know the basic 
facts, hence they can reason by analogy and arrive at 
new conclusions. Knowing an adjective and an ad- 
jective phrase, it becomes unnecessary to learn induc- 
tively the adjective clause. In these upper grades the 
book can be used as a basis; the deductive method, 
therefore, becomes the more natural one. It is also 
found that much of the advanced grammar is only 
an added application or a review of the simpler forms. 
Thus, the child who knows a substantive phrase and 
an infinitive, can be spared the tedium of a develop- 
ment lesson on the infinitive as a subject. It must also 
be remembered that there is much in grammar that is 
arbitrary; a deductive lesson is therefore more appro- 
priate. No explanation can account for four genders 
in grammar and only two in life, three cases in Eng- 
lish grammar and many more in actual speech. And 
finally it is evident that a deductive lesson is not syn- 
onymous with arbitrary memory drill. There can 
be as much thought and concentration in the deduc- 
tive lesson as in the inductive. The special province 
of each of these modes of procedure can be made 
clearer by concrete illustrations through appropriate 
lessons. 

Inductive Lesson: Subject and Predicate 

Introduction. — The best means of establishing a 
point of contact between this topic in grammar and 
the child's experience is to begin with the pupil's errors 
of sentence structure due to omission of subject or 

233 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

predicate, or both. The following are typical mis- 
takes : ''Hoping to hear soon," ''Standing in the 
doorway f' "Received your letter of last Thursday,'' 
A few well-chosen questions will elicit from the chil- 
dren that in these expressions we do not know who 
hopes or stands in the doorway or received the letter. 
Proper subjects are then supplied, / for the first, My 
brother for the second, and The teacher for the third. 
The first expression then becomes / hoping to hear 
soon. This the children readily change to / hope to 
hear soon. After the same changes are made in the 
second and the third expressions the teacher announces 
the aim of the lesson — to learn a mode of testing 
whether sentences have their necessary parts. 

Presentation of the Lesson. — The teacher now calls 
for a sentence about Columbus telling what he did, 
another telling what was done to him, and a third, 
what he was. The following sentences were obtained 
from a sixth-year class : 

Columbus discovered the continent of America. 

Columbus was imprisoned on board his ship. 

Columbus was a bold navigator. 

In the same manner the following series of sentences 
was elicited from the class : • , 

The sun shines upon the earth. 

The sun is hidden by the clouds. 

The sun is a large fireball. 

The teacher's questions then brought from the chil- 
dren that Columbus is "the person talked about" in 
the first group of sentences and the sun is ''the thing 
talked about" in the second. The children were also 

234 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 



led to conclude that the second part of each sentence 
in the first group ''tells about" Columbus and the sec- 
ond part of each sentence in the second group "tells 
about" the sun. 

The second part of the presentation required the 
children to substitute some other name or word for 
Cohtmhus or the sun in the sentences above. "Colum- 
bus was a bold navigator" became 

Captain Drake 



Robinson Crusoe 
Paul Jones 



Magellan 



vwas a bold navigator. 



"The sun is hidden by the clouds" was turned into 
The moon 



. is hidden by the clouds. 



The bright star 

The blue sky 

The mountain top 

In the same way children were required to retain 
Columbus and the sun and "tell other things about 
them." The results obtained from the class were: 
was a poor Italian lad. 

Columbus ^PP^^^^^ before the Court of Spain. 
I was not easily discouraged. 
did not fear his angry sailors, 
warms the earth, 
gives us bright days. 
The sun -I is very far from the earth. 
hurts some people's eyes, 
makes people happy. 
The teacher then' asked, "How m.any parts has each 
sentence?" "What does each part do?" 

235 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Comparison. — The next step in the development of 
the concept subject and predicate was a contrast be- 
tween sentences and phrases or incomplete sentences. 
The children were led to compare each of the follow- 
ing pairs and tell which expression was a sentence: 

To the circus. William went to the cir- 

cus. 
I hope the day will be Hoping the day will be 

bright. bright. 

The hungry bird flew into Into the room. 

the room. 
Received the gift. The poor lady received 

the gift. 

Generalisation. — The teacher then told the class that 
the part of a sentence that tells ''what we talk about" 
is called subject, and that part that tells ''what we say 
of the subject" is called predicate. The children were 
then required to formulate their definitions of these 
two new terms. 

Application. — Many exercises which applied this 
knowledge were now introduced. Children were re- 
quired to find the subject and predicate of given sen- 
tences; to supply a variety of subjects for a given 
predicate; to supply many predicates for a set subject; 
to turn phrases into sentences; to make sentences out 
of participial constructions; to indicate the sentences 
in a paragraph in which there were no capitals and no 
periods. The final form of application consisted in hav- 
ing the children reread their old compositions in their 
endeavor to change every faulty or incomplete sen- 
tence so that it would have both subject and predicate. 

22,6 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

Deductive Lesson: Infinitives 

In contrast with this lesson for a sixth-year class, 
let us turn to a seventh-year group that must study 
infinitives. 

Preparation. — The children v^ere given a talk on the 
desirability of variety of expression, with plenty of 
illustrations to make the point clear. The teacher 
concluded this short discourse by stating the aim of 
the lesson, "To learn a new and more attractive form 
of expressing our ideas." 

Presentation. — The children were told to find the 
chapter on infinitives in their textbook, and their at- 
tention was directed to the very first sentence — "An 
infinitive is a verb form, introduced by to, and used 
as a noun, adjectivq, or adverb." After the sentence 
was read, the children were asked to write a list of 
verbs on their papers; go, see, exercise, work, do, etc., 
were among those given; each verb was then intro- 
duced by to and the infinitives to go, to see, to exercise, 
etc., were formed. 

To make the concept clearer, a few minutes were 
spent on such pairs of contrasting sentences as : 

Go to the store. To go to the store when told is a 
boy's duty. 

Write carefully to the end. To write carefidly to 
the end should be our aim, 

and the class was led to see clearly the differences be- 
tween infinitives and prepositional phrases. 

The class then turned to the first function of an 
infinitive, "used as a noun." The children were re- 

237 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

quired to tell the functions of a noun. They reviewed 
their knowledge of this topic in grammar, and the 
class formulated the following composite result : "A 
noun can be used (i) as subject, (2) as object, (3) as 
predicate noun." The teacher then put on the board : 

He likes . 

He desires . 



and the children supplied appropriate infinitive forms. 
They were led to realize that in these sentences the 
infinitives function as objects. The children then con- 
structed original sentences. 

In the same way, the teacher put on the board : 

is beneficial for the body. , 

pays in the end. 

and the children supplied ''To exercise" for the first 
and ''To work faithfully" for the second. An analy- 
sis of the sentences showed that the infinitives were 
now functioning as subjects. In similar exercises the 
children verified the fact that infinitives can be used 
as nouns. 

The adjective function of infinitives was taken up in 
the same manner. "He is an honorable man" was 
changed to "He is a man to honor." The syntax of 
honorable and to honor was compared, and the chil- 
dren saw clearly that infinitives can perform the office 
of adjectives. 

The third and final important function of the infini- 
tive, the adverb, was taught very easily. The teacher 
presented, "He came" "He wanted to see Brutus" 
and asked the children to join these two weak sen- 
tences into one strong sentence, using the fewest num- 

238 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

ber of words. After a few trials and failures he ob- 
tained ''He came to see Brutus f An analysis of this 
simple sentence made the adverbial function of the 
infinitive phrase, to see Brutus, apparent. Original 
constructions by the children were called for to em- 
phasize this function of infinitives. 

The deductive lesson as here outlined, although re- 
quiring more than a single period, saved considerable 
time and labor, and gave, as a result, a conception of 
infinitives as clear and as convincing as most inductive 
lessons on this topic. In addition, the class was given 
a very effective lesson on how to study grammar. It 
is obvious that to lay down a general law in favor of 
one method is shortsighted because the method must 
be determined by the conditions that obtain in a given 
class. 

4. Tlie TTse of the Type Form Must not Be Overemplia- 
sized. — In the use of type forms in grammar, the 
teacher is beset by many difficulties. Some textbooks 
measure the child's progress in grammar by his mas- 
tery of set forms of analysis, synthesis, and construc- 
tion. Others, on the contrary, do not dwell on these 
type forms long enough, fearing to reduce the subject 
to mere rote learning. In the teaching of simple sen- 
tences, it is not safe to follow the type form of (a) 
subject, (b) predicate, (c) complements, too closely. 
In the sentence, ''The hoy zvorked his zvay through 
these difficulties/' this sequence helps, but when the 
child is confronted by a poetical construction like 
"Them that honor me, I zvill honor/' he applies the 
same principle of analysis by location and makes 

239 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

them the subject rather than the object. It is 
apparent that overemphasis on the type form reduces 
grammar to a verbal, not a rational, level. 

What, then, is the place of the type in the teaching 
of grammar? In all initial lessons and in all drill 
lessons, the type form should be adhered to very 
faithfully. So vigorous should the drill on the type be 
that the imitation of its form becomes a habit. But 
as soon as the principle involved is thoroughly mas- 
tered, we should make gradual and persistent effort to 
work with as many variations of the type form as 
possible. This guarantees thought, prevents slavish 
imitation and mechanical rote work. 

5. By Avoiding Stereotyped Definitions and Set Form- 
ulse We Are Saved from Another Erroneous Form of 
Teaching Grammar. — To many, definitions must play 
an important role in grammar which is a subject of 
classification and systematization. But no matter how 
essential they may be, we must guard against a par- 
rot-like repetition of scientifically accurate definitions. 
They should always be the result of the children's 
own activity and should come at the end of the lesson 
after each child has seen the function of those ele- 
ments which he defines. The wording, too, should, in 
the main, be the child's own; only inaccuracies of ex- 
pression should be changed by the teacher. Defini- 
tions like "A preposition is a word used to show the 
relation between a noun or a pronoun and some other 
word — a verb, an adjective, another noun or a pro- 
noun," or "A participle is a word derived from a verb, 
participating in the properties of a noun or adjective," 

240 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

are set forms that have their place in textbooks but 
should never be heard coming from children in the 
classroom, for their scientific precision presupposes 
a mature mind and a rich knowledge of language on 
the part of the pupil. Teachers are learning that 
ability to define is no index of comprehension. Most 
of the concepts which are vital parts of life and which 
are perceived with rare clearness are most difficult to 
define, for the individual lacks the necessary verbal 
ability. Clear perception of function, not verbal for- 
mulation, marks thoroughness of comprehension. 

The safest procedure in the matter of definitions is 
not to demand the memorization of the phraseology 
but only of the basic and component ideas. These the 
child should state in his own words. Hence the child 
should be required to remember that a preposition ( i ) 
connects, (2) shows relation; a participle is (i) a 
verbal, (2) can be used as adjective or noun. In recit- 
ing, the child should give, first, an original illustration, 
then follow this by a statement expressing the ideas 
memorized. Hence, the child answering the teacher's 
question, "What is a preposition?" says: "The boy 
stood on the burning deck — on; a preposition is a word 
used to connect and show the relation of deck to 
stood." In similar manner the child recites the defini- 
tion of a participle by saying, ''Seeing the enemy, he 
ordered a retreat — seeing; a participle coming from 
the verb see, used as an adjective, relating to the sub- 
ject." If no two children are allowed to give the same 
illustration, we have a guarantee that such recitations 
show rational memory of ideas grasped, rather than 

241 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

verbal memory of concepts vaguely comprehended. 
The recitation of a definition must be a process of ra- 
tional reconstruction rather than mere verbal repro- 
duction. 

6. The Application Step Is the Final Justification of 
Grammar and Must Be Accorded the Most Important Place 
in the Lesson. — Attention to the application of the laws 
learned in grammar is a means of emphasizing the 
utilitarian value of the subject and of clarifying the 
concepts that the child has acquired. The application 
step is also a means of bringing out the disciplin- 
ary value of grammar for, as the type is varied, the 
child's ingenuity, thought, and concentration are stimu- 
lated. 

Application of any topic learned is not complete 
unless the children have had two types of exercises. 
The first form of application is one of analysis. Let 
us assume that the first lesson on participles, the pres- 
ent participle, has just been completed. Selections 
containing present participles are taken up and the 
children must analyze each sentence, point out the 
participles and justify their answers by explaining the 
function of each participle. The second and more im- 
^ portant form of application is through synthetic exer- 
cises in which children are required to originate con- 
text which shows the use of the participle. Lists of 
verbs are given out and the pupils must now use the 
present participial form in a sentence. Pairs of simple 
related sentences are written on the board, and each 
child must com.bine each pair into a long, suspended 
sentence through the use of a present participle. Such 

242 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

• 
synthetic exercises test not the verbal memory of defi- 
nitions, classifications, names or forms, but measure 
efSciency in the correct use of language elements. 

A further illustration may serve to clinch the point. 
The adjective and the adverb were taught to a sixth- 
year class. The method of application by analysis 
contained exercises which asked: *Tn the following 
paragraph, which are adjectives? Which adverbs? 
Why?'' The method of application by synthesis gave 
the children sentences like, "The swift eagle flew 
through the air." The child called upon was required 
to tell the syntax of swift and to change it to the op- 
posite form. The pupil's answer was: ''Swift talks 
about eagle, therefore it is an adjective. The oppo- 
site form is, *The eagle flew swiftly through the air.' '' 
The sentence, "He writes well," was given to another 
member of the class. She recited : 'Well tells in what 
manner he recites, therefore it is an adverb. The op- 
posite is 'He is a good writer.' " A more difficult ap- 
plication by synthesis, suitable for seventh-year work, 
asks the child to tell which form he would use In the 
following sentence and why: "He ground the knife 
sharp or sharply"; "The flower smells sweetly or 
sweet" ; "He looks stern or sternly" ; "The food tastes 
well or good." These synthetic exercises concern them- 
selves with testing the final aim of grammar, ability 
to use. The method of application by analysis is 
not even a guarantee of comprehension. Children 
often recognize grammatical forms by accidental end- 
ings like ly or ing and rarely by the perception of 
their function. 

243 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

7. runctioii Should Be Made Focal in All Grammatical 
Analysis. — This vital suggestion often determines the 
progress of all future work. It is obvious that no ele- 
ment in language, whether word, or phrase, or clause, 
has a fixed grammatical classification, for, as the func- 
tion varies, the classification changes. Children must 
be taught the absurdity of calling inilk a noun or who 
a relative pronoun. They must be taught from the 
very beginning to seek the function that a given ele- 
ment discharges in the sentence. They will soon real- 
ize that milk may be a noun or a verb. Siuce function 
determines grammatical classification, courses of study 
and textbooks insist that all terms be defined in terms 
of use. The usual form is therefore, A noun is a word 
used as the name of a person, place, or thing; milk is a 
noun because it is used to name a thing. 

The suggestion is helpful, but it does not go far 
enough. Since the function not only determines classi- 
fication but also lies at the very basis of efficiency of 
grammar, why not give the function first? Hence, 
the child should recite, ''Milk shows action; therefore 
it is a verb." In the sentence, "Who was it who came 
into the room ?" the first who asks the question, there- 
fore it is an interrogative pronoun ; but the second who 
connects the clauses and stands for the person, there- 
fore it is a relative pronoun. At first glance the ob- 
jection may appear petty, but practical experience soon 
shows how helpful is the use of therefore in place of 
"because, for the word therefore forces the child to 
determine the function of the element in question. 
Very often children state the correct function of the 

^44 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

word but err in the classification; such pupils show 
ability to think correctly and consistently, for the in- 
correct answer is due to faulty memory rather than 
lack of ability to reason. This form of parsing de- 
velops a useful attitude in all advanced work. When 
the child in his later work meets the sentence, "The 
Lorelei on the rock sat combing her golden hair," he 
says, " *On the rock' tells me about the Lorelei, there- 
fore it is an adjective phrase." It has been part of 
the exasperating experience of all teachers of gram- 
mar to have a child give a wrong classification, and 
when asked for the reason to find him inventing a 
justification more stupid than his original error merely 
to seem consistent. Such absurd procedures are 
guarded against and even undermined when children 
are taught from their very earliest lessons in grammar 
to state the function first and then the classification. 

8. Analysis Is Important but We Must not Analyze for 
the Sake of Analysis.- — This principle saves much time 
and useless effort. There can be little doubt about the 
need and the value of exercises in analysis of sen- 
tences, for they give helpful insight into language 
structure, teach how to apply grammar to derive ob- 
scured meaning, and train in logical thought. 

But despite the undisputed use of formal analysis, 
not all sentences are worthy of analysis. "A wise ab- 
stinence as well as a wise selection is essential to suc- 
cess." The next question that arises is, therefore, 
"What shall we select for analysis by the children?" 
Only those things should be subjected to analysis by 
the class which (i) are difficult or doubtful of com- 

245 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

prehension and hence need analysis, and which (2) 
present constructions that allow for useful synthetic 
exercises. Thus, in the two sentences, ''The snow, 
falling thickly, blinded the soldiers," and "The snow 
falling thickly, the soldiers were blinded," the use of 
the commas, and the change from the active to the 
passive voice, give practice in variety of sentence 
structure. Effective exercises in oral composition and 
variety of expression can be given with this as a ba- 
sis: ''The barometer, falling rapidly, foretold an ap- 
proaching storm," becomes "The barometer falling 
rapidly, the approaching storm was foretold." So, 
too, analysis of sentences like "One of the soldiers 
were captured," or "A committee of Sophomores and 
Juniors were appointed" shows at once the bad agree- 
ment and affords opportunity for a language drill 
both necessary and profitable. 

A final consideration in exercises in analysis is the 
method of indicating, by a diagrammatic scheme, con- 
stituent elements of a sentence and their relation. It 
is obvious that the diagram makes a strong visual ap- 
peal, saves time, and facilitates the handling of com- 
ponent elements, especially in complex sentences. But 
great care must be taken, first, to keep the diagram- 
ming simple, and, second, to have a uniform system 
throughout the school course. A violation of these 
suggestions means endless confusion and decreased at- 
tention to the thought involved. 

9. "Parsing Is Essential if Tlsed Within Bounds." — 
This is the next counsel to the teacher of grammar. 
This form of grammatical exercise is indulged in so 

246 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

frequently because it develops a habit of speech which 
makes one sensitive to correct forms. The constant 
drill on ''case and why" develops a sensitivity for the 
different case forms; one strives automatically to 
make "who" and "whom," "she" and "her," and "I" 
and "me" grammatically correct ; one acquires a habit 
of seeing the grammatical function to be discharged 
and then endeavoring to use the appropriate form. 
Parsing is the basis of technical grammar just as 
classification is the basis in the sciences. But while we 
grant its importance, we must guard against analysis 
and classification that are too minute. We must re- 
member that "a sentence is a living thing, and all 
analysis is, in a way, an insult to it." We must con- 
stantly differentiate between a classification that gives 
useful habits of speech and one that leads to no use- 
ful end. Classification for its own sake is as sterile 
practically as it is deadening mentally. 

Let us illustrate incorrect parsing due to overem- 
phasis on classification. The teacher of seventh-year 
pupils asked them to parse chair, in the sentence, "He 
sat on a quaint stool, a chair used by the natives." The 
answer required was, "Chair is a common noun, third 
person, neuter gender, singular number, objective case, 
in apposition with stool, after the preposition on." 
Of the five items enumerated by the child, three are 
absolutely worthless. Third person can well be omit- 
ted, for almost all nouns can boast of that; singular 
number is too evident to need mention by 7B pupils; 
neuter gender can be passed over for the same reason. 
The classification and the case with its proof are the 

247 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

only two necessary facts that should be stated. To 
go beyond this limit is a waste of time, an emphasis 
on non-essentials, and an irrational exaltation of the 
technique of speech. 

10. "False Syntax" Must Be Emphasized, for It Is an 
Effective Means of Applying the Facts of Grammar. — 
Many teachers of English and textbook writers are 
bitter opponents of the traditional exercises in "false 
syntax," for they hold that these language drills are 
both unpedagogical and fraught with grave danger. 
Their argument reduces itself to the oft-quoted dic- 
tum that language is learned through imitation; they 
argue that the child must be surrounded with models 
of correct speech, which become unconscious sources 
of suggestion and imitation. But in "false syntax" the 
method is opposite in spirit and in aim, for the incor- 
rect forms are presented and it becomes a source of 
either imitation or confusion with correct speech. The 
protest would be well founded if the facts implied 
were true. In all "false syntax" we present those er- 
rors that the children make in their own speech or that 
they constantly hear from those about them. These 
errors are analyzed, the reason for the incorrectness is 
noted, and the justification for the corrections is 
given. The very mistakes in English that constantly 
•assail the children's ears are so thoroughly under- 
mined that they are avoided by the pupils. Judging 
from the position taken by those who protest against 
"false syntax," one would infer that children either 
hear only the correct forms or, as would be the case 
in a foreign language, know neither correct nor incor- 

248 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

rect forms. If this were true, "false syntax" would 
indeed be a gross pedagogical error. 

The next question concerns itself with the time 
when the correction of "false syntax" should be em- 
phasized. In the earlier textbooks of grammar, it was 
customary to study first the laws of grammar, and 
then to apply them in the correction of common er- 
rors. But the current method is more logical, for it 
applies every law of grammar to correction of errors 
directly it is understood. After the child learns that 
every sentence has a subject and a predicate, his atten- 
tion should be directed to such errors of incomplete 
sentences as '^Hoping to hear from you'' or ''Await- 
ing your reply'' or "Am delighted to hear of 
your success" ; after the rule of agreement has been 
learned, correction of such typical mistakes as ''Wil- 
liam or John are the guilty person" should be taken 
up; a knowledge of the possessive case should lead to 
the correction of such errors as childrens', mens', etc. 
To postpone such constructive work means to continue 
grammar as an arbitrary subject despite the fact that 
we can interpret it in terms of social need and social 
value for the child. 

11. Great Care Must Be Exercised in the Organization 
of Tests. — The nature of examination questions often 
indicates wrong conceptions of the aims in teaching 
any subject. All test questions must be designed to 
test the child's progress along those lines that mark the 
guiding values of the subject. With this standard of 
judging test questions, the weakness of the following 
questions becomes apparent. "What is an interroga- 

249 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

tive pronoun?", "What is a relative pronoun?", "Give 
three examples of each," "State the rule for the for- 
mation of the possessives in nouns," "Decline the first 
personal pronoun," are typical of those found in 
school examinations, and must be condemned, for 
they test verbal memory, not ability to apply the les- 
sons of grammar to the needs of speech. 

Proper test questions in grammar always reveal 
knowledge of function and ability to apply it to speech 
correction, for these are the ultimate ends of the sub- 
ject. In contrast to the questions mentioned, the fol- 
lowing show a marked superiority : "Correct the fol- 
lowing." "Which form is correct? Why?" "Combine 
each pair of sentences through the use of a relative 
pronoun," "Combine them through the use, of a parti- 
ciple," "Give sentences using who in three different 
cases," "Expand the following phrases into clauses," 
"Reduce the clauses in the following sentences into 
phrases," "Change the number of each noun in the fol- 
lowing sentence and indicate the changes that must be 
made in verbs and pronouns." In answering these 
questions, neither mere memory of form nor glib re- 
cital of textbook definitions will be of service, for they 
test ability to use grammatical elements in original 
context. 

A seventh-year class was given the following test 
after a complete study of relative pronouns and rela- 
tive clauses: 
^ Part I 

I. Analyze the following sentences and state the syntax 
of each clause: 

250 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

(a) The man, whom all the world honors, was once 

a poor farmer boy. 

(b) The house, which we bought recently, we sold 

again to the man who called yesterday. 

2. Parse all the relative pronouns in the following: 

(a) To him who hath, much shall be given. 

(b) They have rights who dare maintain them. 

(c) Such of his songs as were sung were much 

applauded. 

(d) I know the man of whom you speak. 

3. Expand the adjectives in the following sentences into 

clauses : 

(a) "A soft answer turneth away wrath." 

(b) My kind friends helped me to obtain an excel- 

lent position. 

(c) The past summer has brought me a pleasant 

friendship. 

4. Contract the relative clauses in the following into 

adjective phrases or adjective words: 

(a) I was expected to accomplish a task that is 

impossible. 

(b) I do not wish to do work that is unnecessary. 

(c) The man who is blind was injured in the 

street 

(d) In the tree that had lost its leaves, were three 

nests. 

5. Insert the proper relative pronoun in the following 

and give reasons for your choice: 

(a) Man is the only animal can talk. 

(b) There are many persons , though they 

be starving, will not beg.' 

(c) This is the malt lay in the house 

Jack built. 

(d) There are many saw him fall. 

(e) He does all he can, does all 

can be expected. 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Part II 

1. Correct the following, giving reasons for each change : 

(a) Whom did you think that it was? 

(b) I saw the person who you described. 

(c) This is the man which I saw. 

2. Combine the following pairs of sentences through the 

use of a relative pronoun and show why the single 
sentence is better: 

(a) The poor Italian lad stood before the queen. 

He was destined to discover a new world. 

(b) Lafayette was a French nobleman. He came 

to America to help Washington. 

3. Use wJw or its forms as relatives in three different 

sentences showing three different cases. Do the 
same with which. 

4. Rewrite the following sentences, selecting the form 

you think correct: 

(a) The man (who, whom) I took to be your 

brother, has enlisted in the army. 

(b) Is he the man (who, whom) I am supposed to 

resemble ? 

(c) I suggested those (who, whom) should be in- 

vited. 

An analysis of this test shows at once that all ques- 
tions test thoroughness of comprehension and ability 
at application. Part I, given one day, contains ques- 
tions that follow type forms and that can therefore 
be answered by any child who is attentive and makes 
an honest effort at mastering his class work. Part II, 
given the succeeding day, emphasizes versatility in the 
use of relative forms. The exercises are more diffi- 
cult in character and require originality and deeper 
insight into grammatical functions. The pupil who 

252 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

secures a satisfactory rating in such a test gives evi- 
dence of comprehension and abiHty to apply his knowl- 
edge in his attempts at self-correction. 

But the teacher must not suppose that a test of such 
a practical nature cannot be given in the lower grades 
where only elementary facts are taught. The follow- 
ing is a reproduction of an examination given to a 
fourth-year class in one of our city schools : 

Grade 4B 

1. Change these to mean more than one: 

(a) The boy is tired. 

(b) That man works hard. 

(c) The dish is broken. 

(d) The calf is gentle. 

(e) The city is large. 

2. Underline the subject and the predicate in the follow- 

ing: 

(a) Nathan Hale was hanged. 

(b) The spider spins his web, 

(c) Near the stream stood a house. 

(d) Down flew the eagle. 

(e) The Dutch traded with the Indians. 

3. Put the right word in the blank space: 

(do) I have my lessons. 

(is) There two apples. 

(break) The pencil is . 

(come) Yesterday he to see me. 

(run) He has his last race. 

4. Rewrite the following sentences changing the under- 

lined words to the singular or plural : 

(a) The mouse ate the cheese. 

(b) The oxen drew the plow across the field. 

(c) The children went home. 

253 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

(d) John took the box. 

(e) The knife is sharp. 

5. If you have studied a stanza about a flower or a tree, 

write it; if not, write any stanza of poetry studied 
this term. 

6. Write correctly: 

(a) I seen your brother yesterday. 

(b) Jack done it. 

(c) You was there. 

(d) I broke me pencil. 

(e) I stood up early. 

7. Write five sentences about the flag flying above our 

school. Make the sentences tell: 

(a) What things do. (Two sentences.) 

(b) What is done to things. 

(c) What things are. 

(d) What the quality of things is. 

8. Underline subjects and predicates in the following 

sentences — put a single line for subject, double 
line for predicate: 

(a) Is Jack coming? 

(b) Down came the snow. 

(c) The boy won the medal. 

(d) The games were fine. 

(e) Ex-President Roosevelt was in England. 

9. Dictate : 

"We're going to have a new maple tree in the 

park," said Sam to his teacher. 
"How do you know?" said the teacher. 
"Well," replied the boy, "I stuck a seed in the 
ground." 
Points covered: 

(a) Quotation marks, (b) capitals, (c) punctuation, 
(d) spelling, (e) paragraph. 

10. Rewrite the following, putting in abbreviations 
wherever possible : 

254 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

Mary went to the store to buy a pound of tea, 
two dozen eggs, a peck of onions, a pint of cream, 
and an ounce of pepper. 

12. Proper Reviews Are Essential for Successful Work 
in Grammar. — Grammar makes an unusual demand on 
retentive power because of its extensive subject-mat- 
ter, rich in terminology, laws, and classifications. 
To make all this necessary information permanent, 
frequent reviews are essential. But there is no need 
of setting aside definite periods given over exclusively 
to set reviews on a limited portion of the subject. The 
most successful reviews can be incfdental in the course 
of ordinary application exercises that are part of daily 
teaching. Let us illustrate such a review. In a sev- 
enth-year class, the sentence for analysis was taken 
from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, "We have come 
to dedicate a portion of that field as a resting-place 
for those who here gave their lives that that nation 
might live." Among the questions were the following : 

1. Analyze the sentence and give the syntax of each 

clause. 

2. What is there the same in the use oi to dedicate and 

that that nation might live? 

3. Change the phrase to a clause and the clause to a 

phrase. 

4. What is the difference between the two words that? 

5. How would that difference help you in correct read- 

ing? 

6. What is the word those? Apply the test and prove 

that you are right. 

7. The word lives is what part of speech? Change it to 

a verb without changing its spelling. 
255 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Such a spirited lesson demands keen thought and in- 
sures a good review, for old knowledge is called up 
incidentally and is seen from a new aspect. A set 
review lesson on a definite topic in grammar often 
lacks the effectiveness of the informal review. 

13. The Textbook Must Be Used Frequently in the 
Teaching of Grammar. — Proper methods of teaching in 
grammar give the textbook a prominent place. It 
must be used for purposes of comparison and verifi- 
cation in all inductive lessons. At the end of the les- 
son on subject and predicate, it was shown that the 
children are led to formulate their own definitions. 
The children's result should be compared with the 
definition in the book and the elements in the two 
statements should be noted carefully. The teacher 
must elicit from the class the reason for the discrep- 
ancy, if any exists, and then lead them to decide 
whether the definition in the book, or their own, 
is worthy of memorization. Often the statement 
in the book is voted too difficult or too long and it 
must give way to the simpler formulation by the 
class. 

A second invaluable aid rendered by the book is in 
the application step. A good textbook in grammar 
must be replete with a host of well-graded and varied 
exercises which give the children drill in the use of 
the facts that were taught and thus relieve the teacher 
of the burden of seeking satisfactory forms of appli- 
cation. This is the most important single factor which 
determines the value of a textbook in grammar in ele- 
mentary schools. A third use of the book is to give 

256 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

a logically arranged summary of the facts taught in 
the class and thus make unnecessary the keeping of 
notes by children in anticipation of tests. And, finally, 
a good textbook in grammar gives suitable text for 
deductive lessons and thus serves as a means of teach- 
ing children how to study the subject. In the lesson 
on infinitives^ the reader will find an illustration and an 
amplification of this function of the book. In the up- 
per grades the emphasis must shift from the teaching 
of grammar to teaching how to study grammar. In 
discharging this function, the textbook is of greatest 
service. 

14. Careful Gradation Is a Potent Factor in Removing 
Difficulties of Comprehension in Grammar. — In gram- 
mar, as in arithmetic, undue difficulties are introduced 
in the course of teaching, by a lack of careful grada- 
tion. Teachers take the objective view of a topic and 
plan it by subdividing it into its logical parts, teaching 
them in successive periods. It is absolutely essential 
that the teacher take the child's place, imagine himself 
on the child's plane of Ignorance of the basic facts of 
grammar, and then try to foresee the successive diffi- 
culties that will beset the path of the immature mind 
as the entire topic is unfolded. Failure to do this, 
whether due to lack of preparation or of sympathetic 
insight, undermines successful teaching, for a new 
difficulty is introduced before a preceding one is solved 
and cumulative confusion results. An analysis of the 
sequence of topics in the following lessons will give a 
conception of the kind of gradation often absolutely 
necessary in grammar. 

257 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 



Topic: Predicate Adjective and Predicate Noun or 

Pronoun 

1. Exercises in which constructions like The happy birds. 
The beautiful flowers, The green grass, etc., are changed to 
The birds are happy, The flowers are beautiful, The grass 
is green. Repeat, changing The French people are artistic. 
The Japanese are shrewd, etc., to The artistic French peo- 
ple. The shrewd Japanese. 

Elicit : happy, beautiful, green, artistic, shrezud, as used in 
the full sentences are (a) adjectives and (b) in the predi- 
cate, hence (c) called predicate adjectives. 

2. Pick out predicate adjectives in the following and 

apply the test to each: 
The weather is mild — mild — The mild weather. 

3. Complete the following by using predicate adjectives 

to make complete sentences: 

The Indians . 

Rabbits . 

Care must be taken not to supply the verbs in this form 
of drill for then most children answer correctly though they 
may not understand the function of the predicate adjective. 

4. Which of the following are objects and which pred- 
icate adjectives? I saw John. He is studious. He studies 
grammar. Grammar is useful, etc. 

5. Enriched conception, the predicate noun taught 
through the idea of identity by a method similar to that 
used for the predicate adjective. The test: can subject and 
predicate noun be interchanged? 

6. Exercises like those under 2, 3, 4, adapted to predicate 
noun. 

7. The introduction of the pronoun. 

8. Exercise like 2, 3, 4, adapted to the pronoun. 

9. Compound predicate adjectives and nouns. 

He is keen, conscientious and just. He is com- 
mander of the army and leader of the people. 
258 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

10. False syntax. Exercises in which errors like It is 
me. It was her, etc., are corrected. 

11. Distinction between adjective and adverb in follow- 
ing constructions : The flowers smell sweet, The child writes 
well, etc. This is the most advanced phase of the topic and 
must be postponed for work in later grades. The teacher 
who tries to save time in the average class by omitting some 
steps in this gradation invariably loses time and effort for a 
confusion is introduced which almost defies later attempts at 
clarification. 

15. All Grammatical Forms and Functions Must Be 
Taught in the Same Association in Which They Will Be 
Used in Natural Speech. — The bulk of the subject- 
matter of grammar deals with modification of im- 
portant parts of speech. In nouns and pronouns, 
much time is taken up in teaching person, number, 
gender and case; in adjectives and adverbs, compari- 
sons with the three degrees of positive, comparative, 
and superlative, in regular and irregular forms; in 
verbs, person, number, mood, tense, and voice. The 
teaching problems that arise in these modifications 
are simple enough, for the difficulties involved can 
be solved readily by the application of the principles 
discussed in this chapter. 

In teaching the forms and the functions that con- 
stitute the modifications of English grammar, it is 
general to find teachers presenting them in lists de- 
void of all natural context. But mastery of forms 
without content does not develop ability to use these 
forms in content. Children recite rules for the for- 
mation of plurals or of opposite genders until every 
detail is known beyond doubt. In classes, one hears 

259 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

the monotonous babble of child, children; ox, oxen; 
sheep, sheep; scissors, scissors; actor, actress; gander, 
goose; hero, heroine; etc. But despite this ghb recital 
in list form, one finds the compositions of these chil- 
dren replete with "She was an actor,'' "Five oxes 
pulled the wagon," "In this picture I see many sheeps." 
Such results after tedious drills in lists come with 
unfailing regularity, for the language forms were not 
taught in those associations in which they will be used 
later in life. The changing forms of gender and num- 
ber must be taught in context, the teacher giving one 
form and the children the opposite one in a sentence, 
e. g. : 

Teacher Pupil 

I We all intend to study. 

oxen An ox is a strong animal. 

actor She is a great actress. 

Such recitations and drills take longer than those in 
list forms, but they produce gratifying results in oral 
and written composition. 

In teaching case forms, the teacher's problem is 
simplified by beginning with a context that shows the 
child clearly that this new phase of grammar is essen- 
tial. "Case" must therefore be taught through pro- 
nouns, for, aside from the possessive form, it plays no 
important role in nouns. In teaching cases of pro- 
nouns, the law which insists on natural context must 
be obeyed rigidly. To make children repeat inces- 
santly I, my or mine, me, we, our or ours, us, is no 
guarantee that they will use these forms correctly. 

260 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 

The declension of the first personal pronoun should 
+ake the following form : 

/ have a book. We have many books. 

The book is mine. They are ours. 

It is my book. They are our books. 

Give the book to me. Give the books to us. 

A later drill should require children to read the fol- 
lowing sentences and insert the correct form of the 
first personal pronoun: 

My brother, James, and .... took a walk. 

We passed .... school. 

Jane Smith was just coming out. She saw . . . , 
but did not know it was .... 

The same procedure applies to drills on positive, 
comparative, and superlative degrees of adjectives and 
adverbs and to all modifications of verbs. The prin- 
cipal parts of commonly used irregular verbs form 
one of the most important topics in teaching verbs, 
because they are constantly misused by children. One 
hears with disturbing frequency, *We brang our 
lunch" ; "Yesterday we come into the class" ; 'We done 
our lesson in a book that costed five cents" ; *T hurfed 
myself." Realizing the need of vigorous effort in im- 
proving this type of error, teachers subject the princi- 
pal parts of verbs to incessant drill in tabular form. 
The din of go^ went, going, gone; come, came, coming, 
come; hurt, hurt, hurting, hurt; etc., is heard through 
transoms and open doors, but when compositions of 
the succeeding weeks are examined, it becomes mani- 

261 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

fest, again, that recitation of grammatical forms in 
isolated lists is a pedagogical practice made reverent 
by age rather than by results. Let the teacher insist 
on having the parts of the verbs in context. The 
child's successful recitation of "I come into this room 
every morning; yesterday I came into the room; you 
are coming into the room now ; the boy has come into 
the room to-day," gives the teacher good cause to 
hope that part of the grammatical forms and functions 
may pass over into the expressional stock of her chil- 
dren. 

Summary: Place of Crrammar in the Elementary Cur- 
riculum. — We saw in the course of this discussion that 
grammar has been attacked most vigorously by many 
progressive teachers, and the indictments found 
against it are just. But most of the objections are 
remedial, for they are due not to the inherent limita- 
tions of grammar as an elementary school subject, 
but rather to poorly organized courses of study and 
faulty methods of teaching. We must look, there- 
fore, to a liberal reduction in the requirements of 
courses in formal grammar, to a simplification and 
standardization of its terminology, and to the intro- 
duction of methods of teaching which emphasize the 
function rather than the form. Then, and only then, 
will grammar come into its own in the pedagogical 
sphere of elementary education. 



262 



THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR 



SUGGESTED READING 

Arnold^ F. Special Methods of Instruction, pp. 2214- 

257. S. Mandel, 2.y St. Nicholas Place, N. Y. 
Carpenter, Baker and Scott. The Teaching of 

English, pp. 144-152. Longmans, Green & Co. 
Chubb, P. The Teaching of English, chap. XII. The 

Macmillan Co. 
GO'LDWASSER, I. E. Method and Methods in the 

Teaching of EngHsh, chaps. XXIII, XXV. D. C. 

Heath & Co. 
Hosic, James F. The Elementary Course in English, 

pp. 31-34. University of Chicago Press. 
Ho'YT^ F. S. Studies in the Teaching of English 

Grammar. Teachers College Record, Nov., 1906. 
Leonard, Mary H. Grammar and Its Reasons. A. 

S. Barnes & Co. 
O'Shea, M. V. Linguistic Development and Educa- 
tion, chaps. III-V. 
Report of Committee of Fifteen, on Teaching of 

Grammar. 



(I) 



DEC 81939 



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